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Mid Staffordshire workers told to win back patients' trust

Nurses and doctors need to win back the trust of patients in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire scandal, according to the Government's former chief health adviser.

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But Sir Liam Donaldson, the former chief medical officer, said medical staff at the trust in charge of Stafford Hospital needed community support to keep standards high.

Sir Liam, who was in his post for 12 years before he retired in May 2010, was speaking at an event at Molineux in Wolverhampton delving into health issues affecting the city. This is the third event in the series of Wolverhampton Debates, organised jointly by the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton City Council and Pat McFadden MP for Wolverhampton South East.

Sir Liam said a 'very shocking' series of events had engulfed Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust after poor standards of care were revealed.

"There is some point at which you as a patient can look at all the information but you have to put the trust into the people who are caring for you," he said.

"And so that trust I think now needs to be re-earned after Mid Staffordshire."

He rounded on managers at the trust for putting 'productivity targets and money' in front of the quality of patient care.

Sir Liam said the reorganisation of the NHS coupled with the Francis inquiry laying bare the problems at Mid Staffordshire had thrown up ways to better manage care in the future.

Sir Liam added that heightened scrutiny of the NHS and the ongoing Sir Bruce Keogh investigations into high death rates at hospitals, including Dudley's Russells Hall, were important to drive up standards.

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