Savile: what have we learned?

The appalling abuses undertaken by Jimmy Savile on NHS property have been reported in the press and media over a number of years with the majority of NHS hospital investigations reporting in June 2014 and, most recently, in February 2015. There will be few who have read the individual hospital investigation reports who cannot have been utterly shocked and distressed by the nature of the abuse and the numbers of patients and staff who were victimised. Some 44 separate investigations in 34 NHS hospitals, five mental health units, two children’s hospitals and one ambulance service, one hospice and one children’s convalescent home have been undertaken. Many brave individuals have had to revisit the abuse and some of the reports detail harrowing accounts from victims. 

Kate Lampard a former barrister, was asked by the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt to provide independent oversight into the NHS and Department of Health investigations. Her remit was to provide assurance that the organisations undertaking investigations took all the necessary steps to establish the truth and followed a robust process aimed at protecting the interests of patients. The report1 makes a series of recommendations, which are currently being managed by the Trusts concerned. 

Lessons learned