Secrecy row over inquiry

The independent inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal will be held behind closed doors - prompting a furious reaction from health campaigners who denounced it as a "whitewash".

Members of the campaign group Cure the NHS voiced their anger that the inquiry will be held in private and are now planning legal action to try to force a Government re-think.

The scope of the inquiry and how it will operate was revealed by chairman Robert Francis QC at a meeting with patient groups yesterday at the Moat House, in Acton Trussell.

No members of the public will be allowed into the hearings which will examine the poor standards of care at the hospital between January 2005 and March 2009.

The hearings will be held later this year at a venue yet to be decided and will examine individual cases of poor care.

Staff at the hospital will be able to give their evidence in private and in some circumstances anonymously. They will not be compelled to appear but Mr Francis said he is prepared to go back to the Government to ask for powers to force witnesses to give evidence if needed.

Mr Francis said his inquiry, which officially started yesterday, would not examine why regulators such as the Primary Care Trust and other health bodies did not realise what was happening at the hospital.

He said the investigation would not seek to apportion blame but would aim to identify further lessons that could be learned to prevent problems in the future.

It will examine the process and accountability of senior managers at the trust including former chief executive Martin Yeates who has never spoken publicly about the problems at Stafford Hospital.

The inquiry follows a damning report by the Healthcare Commission which found at least 400 more people died than would have been expected in a three-year period from 2005 to 2008.

Mr Francis has issued an appeal to members of the public who have suffered poor care at Stafford Hospital to contact the inquiry directly.

He also said staff from the trust should not fear coming forward and that it was "their duty" to take part if asked.

"This inquiry is not about putting people on trial, but I will not shy away from examining issues that may be uncomfortable and difficult for some, and I will be clear if there are criticisms to be made," he said.

Julie Bailey, founder of Cure the NHS, said the inquiry was not what the public in Stafford wanted.

She said: "It definitely is a whitewash and we are hugely disappointed. The fact it is behind closed doors and the Press are not allowed in means people will give evidence and a transcript will be kept but no-one will ever see it or hear it."