Hospital apologises after chocolate incentive gaff
Hospital bosses in Portsmouth have u-turned on plans for a ‘competition’ over which department could discharge patients the fastest over Easter
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) sent out an internal newsletter detailing the plans last week.
It said: "From Monday, April 3 to Thursday, April 6, a daily competition will run for wards with the best teams for discharges receiving some Easter chocolates each day".
The announcement received a backlash from staff, medical experts and patients.
The Trust has since posted on social media to apologise and confirm the ‘competition’ won't be taking place.
It said on Twitter: "We shared an internal newsletter on Friday and one of the extracts has led to legitimate concern and upset being expressed.
"We are truly sorry for the impact of that message.
"We’ve read your comments and understand how this has made you feel, and hold our hands up to say this is our mistake.
"We are preparing for the forthcoming bank holiday to make sure we continue to respond to the needs of our patients and keep our patients and staff safe.
"Discharge decisions are an important part of preparation for a bank holiday period and whilst we had good intentions to get staff talking about the challenges we face, we can absolutely see why this has landed badly.
"We know that incentives have no place in influencing clinical decisions.
"We understand the concern this has caused and are sorry to our staff and patients who are the heart of PHU.
"We want to thank everyone for helping us learn from this".