4 4.1 Recent trust-related cases Jelmer At the end of 2011, the National Ombudsman’s report on action taken by the University Medical Centre in Groningen (UMCG) and the Dutch Health Care Inspectorate (Inspectie Gezondheidszorg or IGZ) attracted considerable public attention. The case concerned baby Jelmer, one of a premature triplet. He had bowel problems for which he was operated at the UMCG. He subsequently proved to have suffered brain damage during the operation and was left with serious mental and physical handicaps. Data on his condition during the operation were lost because a monitor had become unplugged. The hospital gave the parents few details of events in the operating theatre and they reacted by asking the Health Care Inspectorate to investigate. It took over three years to do so and then issued a critical report. Soon afterwards, however, following pressure from the hospital and the lawyer representing the anaesthetist concerned, this report was withdrawn and replaced by one that was far less damaging to the hospital and the doctor.(21 ) In the course of a radio interview about the actions of the Inspectorate, Jelmer’s mother said, ‘How can you take an inspectorate seriously after something like this? (...) If this is the standard of its work, you wonder what’s the point of having this kind of inspectorate. (...) You are confident the inspectorate will do its job and ensure patient safety. So you have confidence in something that doesn’t actually happen … it might be better not to have an inspectorate at all. At least then you’d know there was no protection.’(22 ) Jelmer’s parents’ trust in the care provided by the UMCG and in the standard of scrutiny provided by the IGZ was destroyed because both authorities failed in their duty of accountability. Whenever anything happens to a baby, a hospital should immediately give the parents the clearest possible explanation. And whenever a medical accident occurs, the IGZ should use its powers of inspection to produce a clear explanation of what has gone wrong and what lessons can be learned. This case is a clear demonstration of what is needed for the citizen to trust government. People clearly think it is important for government to be open and act transparently so that citizens can ascertain the facts of cases, and for inspectorates to act in a fair and trustworthy way so that citizens know what its role is and what it can be expected to do. Recent trust-related cases | 13 Pagina 12
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