Stafford Hospital, Unite and Sir David Nicholson

Some readers may remember Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE, Chief Executive of the English National Health Service and Chief Executive of the NHS Commissioning Board:

DMossEsq must confess to a certain horrified admiration for Sir David. Never met him but he comes across as an old bruiser, a survivor, a winner, he's taken on all comers including the Prime Minister and he remains the undefeated commie, the Lonsdale Belt-holder of Whitehall.

He obviously inspires similar awe in Charlotte Jee, stalwart of the Guardian's Government Computing supplement:

Great profile of powerful, plain-spoken & -seemingly- indestructable NHS chief Sir David Nicholson by @patrickjbutler guardian.co.uk/society/2013/f… — Charlotte Jee (@charlottejee) February 4, 2013

Now that the report into the inhuman degradation at Stafford Hospital has been published, she may think differently.

Not so the charming Mary Riddell in the Telegraph:

But not everyone has quite such a strong stomach. Campaigner Julie Bailey has called on Sir David to resign. (And Andy Burnham. And Peter Carter.) Ms Bailey is joined by Rachael Maskell, the health officer of the Unite union, who says:

Sir David Nicholson, who has thrown down the so-called Nicholson challenge of £20bn cuts, is not the person to lead the NHS into the world of patient-focused care ... The words ‘buck’, ‘stopping’ and ‘here’ have a certain resonance.

Is this the end?

----------

Added (22:40):

The boss must go. NHS staff must step up
by Phil Hammond
The Times, 6 February 2013

Sir David Nicholson, the chief executive of the NHS, was in 2005 the head of the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority, the body supposedly responsible for supervising standards at Stafford Hospital. He should step down, a view privately shared by some on the new NHS Commissioning Board and many of the NHS staff I’ve spoken to. But only brave relatives such as Julie Bailey, from Cure the NHS, will join me in public.

Added 7.2.13:

• Union calls for Nicholson's resignation
• David Cameron apologises for Mid Staffs scandal after damning report
• Raft of apologies in wake of Mid Staffs
• 1,200 deaths, a damning report on 'failings at every level' and 290 recommendations for reform. Now families of the Stafford Hospital victims and union chiefs call for the head of the NHS to resign

Added: 14.2.13:

Head of NHS ignored warnings that patients were in danger, alleges whistleblower Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of the NHS, was allegedly warned four years ago that patients were at risk at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust by its former chief excecutive Gary Walker ... Mr Walker last night said he raised concerns with Sir David in 2009 but his warnings were ignored. He told the Daily Mail: "I want David Nicholson to be held to account. I warned him that this was going to happen. I warned him that Lincolnshire was going to become the next Mid Staffordshire. He didn’t investigate those concerns, and now look what’s happened." He claimed Sir David was "not interested in patient safety" and said he should resign to end the "culture of fear" he had installed in the NHS ... managers at the trust had been told their "careers rested on delivering the targets" and so were neglecting the care of patients ...

Added 15.2.13:

On last night's This Week, Michael Portillo was asked by Andrew Neil for his moment of the week and responded as follows: