After the Heckscher inquiry: KI’s action plan

Earlier this autumn, the Karolinska Institutet board (konsistoriet) asked Acting Vice-Chancellor Karin Dahlman-Wright to draft an action plan in response to the recommendations made by Heckscher’s independent inquiry into KI’s handling of the Macchiarini affair.

The action plan is based on the Strategy 2018 roadmap and clarifies important areas of improvement for the university. But it also contains measures in direct response to the Heckscher investigation and KI’s internal audit of the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (Clintec).

On 10 October, the board voted to adopt the intentions of the action plan, and tasked the Vice-Chancellor with their development and implementation. The Vice-Chancellor is to present a timetable based on the plan at the board meeting of 5 December.

The action plan is based on three principal areas: internal culture and leadership at KI; quality issues, including compliance; and organisation, including KI’s relationship with Karolinska University Hospital.

The plan is to detail the measures to be taken for all the recommendations made by the Heckscher inquiry and the audit report. Much of KI will be engaged in carrying out the proposals set out in the action plan, which involves both immediate and more long-term changes.

“We now need to pull together to make sure that KI becomes even better and stronger,” says Karin Dahlman-Wright, acting vice-chancellor at KI. “We want no one ever doubting that KI is a university characterised by high quality and sound ethics.”

The measures include:

• internal training to promote sustainable leadership
• clear rules for ensuring that any departure from the delegation of authority is properly documented
• enhanced hiring procedures
• improved research documentation