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Families saluted for highlighting Stafford Hospital scandal

It has been a long wait for the families of those who suffered at the uncaring hands of neglectful staff and appalling cultures and practices at Stafford Hospital.

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But the torment, the struggle and the heartache has not been in vain as those courageous campaigners were saluted for bringing the scandal to light as the Government yesterday kick-started the biggest culture shift in NHS history.

In total, 281 significant reforms will be made to the health service so the sorry story of Stafford, and the practices and standards of 2005 to 2009 at Weston Road will not again be repeated in wards up and down the country.

And the Government vowed that this is only the beginning of a more open and transparent NHS.

Robert Francis, the barrister who presided over two inquiries into the failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, paid tribute to the campaigners who have taken their fight from the wards to Whitehall.

He said: "I could not have produced my reports without the help of the many patients and family members who came forward to tell of their appalling experiences in Stafford.

"They will not rest until they see action being taken to prevent a repeat of what happened in Stafford and, as we now know, elsewhere. Without them I doubt very much whether we would be here today.

"It is they and all who use the NHS day in and day out who have to be persuaded that the measures being announced today will achieve the laudable objectives set out by the Secretary of State."

The sweeping reforms will see hospitals and care providers have a legal responsibility to own up to errors or face criminal sanctions and hospitals found not to be transparent in reporting their mistakes will be made to pay out themselves.

Staffing levels will be set by hospitals and have to be published on a new website and reviewed every six months in public, while doctors and nurses will be encouraged to flag up their mistakes or near misses so patterns of poor care are not missed.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday declared 'there is a real sense of culture in the NHS beginning to change'.

He said: "In considering the Government's response to Robert Francis QC's landmark inquiry into Mid Staffordshire, both in broad terms and in the detail of each recommendation, I have had in my mind those two contrasting NHS stories – of care and compassion on the one hand and of failure and cover-up on the other.

"First we need to hear the patient, seeing everything from their perspective, not the system's interest. Second, we need to face up to the hard truths – from excellent to unacceptably poor – about what that system delivers for patients.

"This response seeks to build a future which learns the lessons of Mid Staffordshire." Mr Francis, whose £13m inquiry saw a total of 290 recommended reforms for the NHS, welcomed the Government's decision to accept 281 of his proposals.

He said: "I am glad to welcome what the Secretary of State has announced as being a carefully considered and thorough response to my concerns and my recommendations.

"I said, in presenting my report of the public inquiry: 'My recommendations represent not the end but the beginning of a journey towards a healthier culture in the NHS in which good practice in one place is not considered to be a reason for ignoring poor practice somewhere else; where personal responsibility is not thought to be satisfied by a belief that someone else is taking care of it; where protecting and serving patients is the conscious purpose of everything everyone thinks about day in day out'."

One key omission from the Francis recommendations is giving criminal protection to whistleblowers such as former Stafford nurse Helene Donnelly who suffered horrendous bullying for raising concerns.

Cure the NHS founder Julie Bailey, who started the pressure group after her mother Bella suffered appalling care at Stafford in 2007, condemned the decision.

She said: "The most important for us was protection for whistleblowers because we know throughout the NHS, that people are trying to speak out that there's harm going on and they're not being listened to and often they're persecuted for speaking out."

Following the announcement, Maggie Oldham, Chief Executive at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We continue to review our own processes and procedures to make sure that the care provided at our hospitals becomes consistently good for each and every patient.

"We know there is always room for improvement and we are determined to remain focused on providing compassionate and safe care."

Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Partnership NHS Trust also announced it will introduce an independent complaints panel to review any investigations into complex complaints it receives.

But Deb Hazeldine, who lost her 67-year-old mother Ellen Linstead after she contracted superbugs clostridium difficile and MRSA, said she was disappointed that a national minimum staffing standard was not among the reforms.

Councillor Frank Finlay, Stafford Borough Council's cabinet member for health, said: "This is just another step towards reassuring the public and restoring confidence in the NHS."

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