The number of live disciplinary cases against staff at troubled Stafford Hospital rose by two-thirds in October, nearing an all-time high.

Hospital chiefs confirmed today they had opened investigations into 10 new disciplinary or grievance cases against staff at the hospital last month.

The hospital said nine of the 10 cases had resulted in suspensions while investigations continued and that another person was working under “restricted practice”.

By the end of October there were 25 live cases being investigated by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, just three short of the 28 at the end of August, which was an all-time high.

Among the complaints under investigation include cases of poor clinical practice, failure to provide care, and bullying and harassment. It comes as a public inquiry hears evidence into standards of care at the hospital.

Ken Lowndes from campaign group Cure the NHS said the statistics were “frightening” and asked how long it would take to bring about change.

“It’s a question of when this is going to stop,” he said. “I would have thought this number of disciplinary investigations was very high.

“After what we’ve been hearing at the public inquiry it’s perhaps not surprising.

“When chief executive Antony Sumara first arrived we hoped he would really get to the bottom of the awful clutter and root out most of the problems.

“This is why we have said to him that we think each ward at the hospital should be closed one by one and a culture change programme instigated.”

The figures have been released in papers set to be discussed at the trust’s board meeting today.

No-one from the hospital was available for comment.