Trust Well Earned: a New Approach to Accountability for Better Healthcare

At the moment, accountability does not make enough of a contribution to better healthcare and social care. Patients and clients find that they do not always get the help they need as a result of requirements regarding accountability. Moreover, healthcare professionals have less time and attention to devote to them, and they regularly have to fill out questionnaires without knowing what the whole point of doing that is. Healthcare professionals are not always able to provide the healthcare and social care they believe is necessary, because doing so would not fit the narrow framework within which they must be accountable. Distrust is growing: professionals are protecting themselves, and learning is being made more difficult. The administrative burden for professionals, which they feel does not serve any good purpose, leads to lower job satisfaction and ultimately means that fewer people want to work in the healthcare sector.