Doctors accuse Hunt of trying to make political capital out of deaths – Media roundup: July 17th, 2013

Subscribers to our morning email get the best of LabourList – including the Media and blog round up – every weekday morning. If you were a subscriber you would have already received this (and much more) in your inbox. You can sign up here.

Doctors accuse Hunt of trying to make political capital out of deaths

Doctors have accused Jeremy Hunt of trying to “make political capital out of patients’ deaths” after the Keogh report into 14 hospitals with high death rates uncovered “mediocrity” rather than a disaster on the scale of Mid Staffs. Keogh’s report found that none of the hospitals investigated was providing “consistently high-quality care to patients” and all 14 trusts have been ordered to act on recommendations set out by health officials. NHS leaders said that political briefings about the report in the media before publication which highlighted 13,000 avoidable deaths at the 14 trusts had unjustifiably frightened patients and relatives, demoralised staff and undermined the public’s confidence in the service. There had been speculation that 13,000 patients may have needlessly died since 2005 on the basis of figures from Sir Brian Jarman of Imperial College. But NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, who led the review, said it was “clinically meaningless and academically reckless” to try to quantify avoidable deaths. –Guardian

Labour could cut Trident fleet to save £1.7bn

Ed Miliband will contemplate reducing the size of Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet should Labour win the next election, it has emerged. Labour said yesterday that it remained committed to the continuous-at-sea deterrent (CASD) that Britain has operated for more than 40 years. It means that one of a fleet of four submarines armed with Trident ballistic missiles is always on patrol. However, Labour will use a review of Britain’s defences after the next election to re-examine whether CASD could be maintained with only three submarines. – The Times(£)

Other highlights

• Nursing shortage caused hospital deaths, says report – Mirror
• The NHS is not a creaking relic, whatever the Tories may say – Mary Riddell, Telegraph
• Legal aid reforms could undermine fundamental principles of justice, warns CPS – Independent
• Tobacco giant hid details of Crosby meeting over plain cigarette packets – The Times(£)