Hospital death's - Health Secretary's pledge

"On behalf of the Government and the NHS I would like to apologise to the patients and families of patients who have suffered because of the poor standards of care at Stafford Hospital," he said.

In a statement to the Commons this afternoon, Mr Johnson was expected to confirm that he has ordered a fresh review of the accident and emergency department at the hospital in a bid to reassure the public.

He also confirmed that there would be a review of all deaths at the hospital where relatives had concerns.

"We cannot know exactly how many patients were affected by the poor care described in the Healthcare Commission's report. The relatives of people who died in Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2008 will rightly have questions that must be answered," he said.

"The new leadership of the trust will respond to every request from relatives and carry out an independent review of their case notes. This will be an essential step to put relatives' minds at rest and to close this regrettable chapter in the hospital's past."

Mr Johnson said a "complete failure of management" had led to a "totally unacceptable" failure to treat emergency patients safely and with dignity.

"Local patients will want absolute certainty that Stafford Hospital has been transformed since this investigation began," the Health Secretary added.

"To that end I have asked Professor Sir George Alberti, National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care to lead an independent review of the trust's current A&E services. I have asked the National Quality Board to ensure that the early warning system for clinical underperformance is working effectively across the whole of the NHS." Everyone downwards from Mr Johnson and his No 2, Ben Bradshaw, lay the blame for the fiasco firmly at the door of the hospital's board and managers.

"This is a devastating indictment of corporate management and governance failure over a long period of time," said Mr Bradshaw. "That's why the Secretary of State and I have made clear that we apologise unreservedly to the people of Staffordshire who use this hospital for what was a totally unacceptable level of service."

The minister pointed out that until the Labour Government set up the Healthcare Commission to investigate standards in hospitals, there was no independent body to carry out probes. But the commission's damning report was the result of concerns raised about the death rate among emergency patients at Stafford and complaints from patients and relatives. The system was working, the minister insisted.

Most of those complaints, however, only started flooding in when news of the commission's probe was carried in the Express & Star and other local media. The Health Commission's report showed that the trust board was much more concerned with achieving self-governing Foundation status than it was about patient care.

How Mid Staffordshire came to be approved as one of the NHS's supposedly flagship trusts is mind-boggling, and Mr Bradshaw said the independent assessment body, Monitor, would have put the trust's application on hold if it had been aware of the Healthcare Commission's inquiry.

Mr Bradshaw, nevertheless, insisted that he had full confidence in Monitor, and stressed the importance of the independence of the bodies. "It would be wrong to try to deflect the blame away from where it lies – with the governance and management of the hospital itself," he said.

So what of the future and the anger which must be felt by all those touched by the horrendous failures at Stafford? And should anyone else bear responsibility?

"It is very important that the new chairman and chief executive investigate any remaining culpability and deal with that under due process," said Mr Bradshaw. "They must assure also us that they have a team in place to command the confidence of local people, patients' groups and organisations."