The old idea of accountability was that people at the top of an organisation took responsibility when things went wrong. The buck stopped at the president's desk.

Here's a modern definition. Accountability: the process which shifts blame to the lowest possible level of an organisation to spare the blushes of those above.

I constructed that definition after reading about the inquiry into the investigation of Harold Shipman. It concluded that the two police officers in charge of this appalling case were "out of their depth".

The officers were guilty of misjudgement, with terrible consequences. Equally culpable were those who put them in that position. To the best of my knowledge, they have not faced public disgrace or disciplinary action.

People at the top of any organisation, whether it's a business, a government department or even a council, are paid a lot of money for their skills. One of the most important skills they can exhibit is judgement in selecting people for their organisation and in determining how much responsibility should be delegated to them.

They cannot manage every individual, every working minute. However, they must be responsible for creating systems which measure and minimise risk.

They must be responsible for embedding a culture in their organisation which rewards initiative but supports the individual. They should understand that individual error is often the product of corporate failure. If that failure occurs they must accept their own accountability for it.

Monsters like Harold Shipman are mercifully few. More common are the insidious problems of cover-up and blame shifting which are the bane of so many of our institutions.

Perhaps if we tackled them the pious promise that "lessons will be learned" which we always hear at times like this, wouldn't have such a hollow ring.

George Best's wife, Alex is reportedly "furious" with the landlord who gave her husband alcohol. Now, I don't know if landlords have job descriptions. But if they do, I'm fairly sure serving drink gets a mention.

George Best was blessed with gifts which brought joy to millions of people. He is cursed with an illness which inflicts misery on him and his loved ones.

How can he get better? Well, calling time on the media frenzy which greets his every lapse and which, this week, ranged from the mawkish to the ghoulish, would help.

Perhaps an acknowledgement by him and those around him that he's an adult who can make choices and understand their consequences might not be a bad idea either.

Whatever his choice, it would be a hard heart which didn't wish him well.

Songbirds sing louder to make themselves heard over the traffic, according to a study by Dutch scientists published this week. A wonderful example of nature raising its game in the face of human interference.

But a reminder too perhaps that, one day, nature's patience with our polluting ways will run out. And we will be left contemplating our folly in silence.

Published: 18/07/2003