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Stafford Hospital: Report to suggest 'sweeping' NHS change Stafford Hospital: Report to suggest 'sweeping' NHS change
(about 2 hours later)
Fundamental changes to the way NHS staff are trained are expected to be recommended by an inquiry into hundreds of deaths at Stafford Hospital.Fundamental changes to the way NHS staff are trained are expected to be recommended by an inquiry into hundreds of deaths at Stafford Hospital.
The Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times say it will call for poor managers to be replaced and better staff training. The Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times say it will call for poor managers to be replaced, and for better staff training.
The inquiry probed a period between 2005 and 2008, when poor care at the hospital is estimated to have caused 1,200 avoidable deaths. The inquiry probed a period between 2005 and 2009, when hundreds died as a result of treatment at the hospital.
The Department of Health said reports of the findings are speculation. The Department of Health said the newspaper reports were speculation.
The inquiry, established by the coalition in 2010 and chaired by Robert Francis QC, sat for 139 days, cost £10m and considered about a million pages of evidence. Stafford Hospital said the "terrible care" received during that period was not representative of the care patients now received at the hospital.
The public investigation was prompted by a 2009 Healthcare Commission report, which listed a catalogue of failings including receptionists assessing patients arriving at A&E, a shortage of nurses and senior doctors and pressure on staff to meet targets.
The subsequent probe heard evidence of patients dying after falling when they were left unattended and others being denied food and drink.
The inquiry's findings are due to be published later this month.
'Culture of fear''Culture of fear'
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the results of the public inquiry will deliver a damning verdict on the entire NHS. The inquiry, established by the coalition in 2010 and chaired by Robert Francis QC, sat for 139 days, cost £10m and considered about a million pages of evidence.
It says Mr Francis will describe a "culture of fear" in which pressure was piled on staff to put the demands of managers before the needs of patients. It was prompted by a 2009 Healthcare Commission (HC) report, which listed a catalogue of failings including receptionists assessing patients arriving at A&E and a shortage of nurses and senior doctors.
He will demand radical changes "to the supervision and regulation of health care" the paper said, in response to a "tide of public anger" about the scandal. Managers were found to have been distracted by targets and cost-cutting, and regulators were accused of failing to pick up problems quickly enough, despite warnings from staff and patients.
The inquiry looked not just at Stafford Hospital, but at the way the NHS as a whole is managed. Its findings are due to be published later this month.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, it will deliver a damning verdict on the entire NHS.
It says it will describe a "culture of fear" in which pressure was piled on staff to put the demands of managers before the needs of patients.
The newspaper claims the report will call for greater regulation of NHS management after "systemic" failings, and an overhaul of training for nurses and health assistants.The newspaper claims the report will call for greater regulation of NHS management after "systemic" failings, and an overhaul of training for nurses and health assistants.
It also claims about 41 doctors and 29 nurses working at the hospital have escaped serious punishment, despite complaints being lodged with their professional bodies.It also claims about 41 doctors and 29 nurses working at the hospital have escaped serious punishment, despite complaints being lodged with their professional bodies.
The Sunday Times says the report, which Mr Francis will hand to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt this month, will recommend a statutory "duty of candour" which would oblige hospitals to inform patients or their relatives when treatment has gone wrong. The Sunday Times says the report will recommend a statutory "duty of candour" which would oblige hospitals to inform patients or their relatives when treatment has gone wrong.
It says the inquiry will recommend that hospitals which cover up mistakes by doctors and nurses should be fined and even closed down in some cases.It says the inquiry will recommend that hospitals which cover up mistakes by doctors and nurses should be fined and even closed down in some cases.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Hunt said the events at Stafford represented "the most shocking betrayal of NHS founding values in its history".
'Change of culture''Change of culture'
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Hunt said the events at Stafford represented "the most shocking betrayal of NHS founding values in its history".
"We need proper accountability from those running NHS institutions. It is tough and often thankless being an NHS manager; despite which most do an excellent job."We need proper accountability from those running NHS institutions. It is tough and often thankless being an NHS manager; despite which most do an excellent job.
"Most of all we need a change of culture. Patients must never be treated as numbers but as human beings, indeed human beings at their frailest and most vulnerable.""Most of all we need a change of culture. Patients must never be treated as numbers but as human beings, indeed human beings at their frailest and most vulnerable."
He pledged to introduce a system of patient feedback - which would be published - whereby every hospital in-patient will be asked whether they would recommend the care they received to family or friends.He pledged to introduce a system of patient feedback - which would be published - whereby every hospital in-patient will be asked whether they would recommend the care they received to family or friends.
He wrote that greater "openness and transparency when things go wrong" is required and said the Department of Health would "listen carefully" to inquiry findings. He wrote that greater "openness and transparency when things go wrong" was required and said the Department of Health would "listen carefully" to inquiry findings.
Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust looks after Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospitals.Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust looks after Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospitals.
Last month, a panel appointed by the regulator Monitor said the trust was "unsustainable" in its present form.Last month, a panel appointed by the regulator Monitor said the trust was "unsustainable" in its present form.
Lyn Hill-Tout, chief executive at the trust, said in a statement: "The Care Quality Commission lifted all concerns it had about Stafford Hospital in July 2012.
"Our mortality rates are second best out of 41 Trusts in the Midlands and East of England region and have been consistently better than the level expected for the last few years.
"None of our patients has acquired MRSA infection in hospital since February 2012 and our Clostridium Difficile rate continues to fall year on year."
She added that nursing standards had been improved by the introduction of ward sisters, and staffing levels were constantly monitored to ensure enough trained staff are on duty at all times.
"The terrible care received between 2005 and 2009 is not representative of the care patients now receive in our hospital.
"We are not complacent, we know we don't get it right every time, but we do not hide the facts when things are not as good as what we would want them to be," she added.