A lack of empathy in healthcare can be disastrous. In the UK, between 2005 and 2009, hundreds of avoidable deaths occurred at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. The Francis report, which investigated the causes of the failings, concluded that a lack of empathy contributed to the catastrophe.
More recently, dozens of tragic, unnecessary infant and maternal deaths occurred at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals. The Ockenden Report, which investigated the causes of these deaths, stated that lack of empathy exacerbated the problem.
