WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is doing far less analysis into its repeated failures to provide effective medical care for millions of American military veterans than it did four years ago, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said.
“To address adverse events, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers completed 18 percent fewer root cause analyses in fiscal year 2014 compared to fiscal year 2010,” the report issued on Friday said.
The number of analyses into systemic failure fell from 1,862 in 2010 to 1,523 in 2014, the GAO said.
The GAO was also critical of the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) failure to examine its own failures and learn the reasons for them.
The VA has been repeatedly plagued by scandals over its failure to provide adequate and timely medical care for millions of the veterans who rely upon it. The post of Inspector-General of the VA remains vacant.
In July 2015, acting VA Inspector General Richard Griffin resigned amid accusations that he whitewashed his department's reports over a scandal about a culture of abuse and bullying at the VA"s offices in Phoenix, Arizona. The post is currently vacant.
The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends the taxpayers’ money
