A whiff of accountability?

The interesting case of a GP who is alleged to have empowered a nurse practitioner beyond their means is to be heard by the GMC shortly. Obviously the full facts are not known, however the concept is certainly a very salient one.

This case could have rather grave implications for the likes of Simon Fradd, and the government, as they seem very keen to empower the ever growing army of health care practitioners well beyond their means.

The standard response to nurses being empowered beyond their means from some nurses continues to be that the NMC will step in and make nurses accountable for their actions when they step outside their 'sphere of competence'.

This does not happen. The NMC have been complicit in empowering the nursing profession beyond their means, hence they are all too keen to overlook these incidents, incidents that are becoming ever more frequent in my opinion.

The point is that this stupid attitude to medicine and competency is exactly where things are going wrong. If one has not been educated and trained to a sufficient level, then one will never know when one is acting dangerously outside of ones 'sphere of competency'; this is the position that many health care workers find themselves in these days, whether it be as WIC nurse practitioner, or as a physician's assistant.

The worker drones are not the ones to be blamed in cases like Dr Gray's, it is those who empower them beyond their means that need to be held accountable. As happened when the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons dished out punishment to an experienced vet, those who knowingly empower the ignorant should take the rap.

The main players in this dangerous empowerment have been the government, the Department of Health, the Royal Colleges and a group of senior politically climbing medics. These are the people that need to be punished, otherwise the dumbing down will continue and standards of care will continue to slip.