Cash and Kidney in big TV debate

Stafford and Stone's two MPs are set to put their political differences aside tomorrow during a televised debate on Stafford Hospital.

David Kidney and Bill Cash will unite in calling for a full public inquiry on the ongoing scandal when they appear on BBC1's the Politics Show.

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Mr Kidney, Stafford's Labour MP, and Mr Cash, his Conservative counterpart, both say the Government should carry out the move in order to find out why conditions at the hospital were so bad, Healthcare Commission investigators branded them "appalling" in their March report.

The MPs agree that two further reports, released this week and compiled by Government-appointed experts, did not go far enough in finding out the true reasons behind the "harrowing" stories of some patients and their families.

Mr Cash told the Express & Star that neither report had created a "clean break".

He said: "I've already said in the Commons that neither of them, however much light they shed on certain experiences at Stafford Hospital, are in any way an excuse for not having a full public inquiry."

Mr Cash refused to say whether he agreed with claims made by some local healthcare campaigners that Mr Kidney's backing for a public inquiry came too late.

He said: "It's for the electorate to judge for themselves. It's not for me to start criticising another Member of Parliament. I'm not going to comment on that but I am going to say that from day one, I've pushed for a public inquiry for the reasons I've repeatedly set out."

Mr Kidney said the Politics Show debate would be about both the future of the hospital and the need for a public inquiry. He said: "They've asked us to go on and agree about something, which they don't normally do. This is one area where we've both thought about the issue and agree a solution."

One of the reports on Stafford Hospital released this week, which was compiled by Dr David Colin Thome, recommended that all health trusts should publish details of complaints against them to create openness.