Stafford Hospital disciplinary cases soar

The number of disciplinary cases at Stafford Hospital have soared by more than 70 per cent, it has emerged.

The figures were released by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust to the Express & Star.

They show that bosses at the trust carried our more than double the number of disciplinary hearings compared to the year before. The increase has been welcomed by campaigners who say it shows the new management at the trust are acting against poorly performing staff.

In 2008/9 there were 17 disciplinary hearings but this jumped by 70 per cent in 2009/10 with 29 staff facing what is known as a conduct and capability investigation.

In the first month of the new financial year there have already been 16 disciplinary investigations.

Among the reasons for staff being disciplined include inappropriate care to patients, inappropriate behaviour, poor attendance, misuse of the hospital intranet, criminal record checks and lapses in registration.

The increase comes after the Francis Inquiry revealed a number of harrowing cases of poor behaviour and care at the hospital, where hundreds of patients may have died as a result of poor care.

Christine Lloyd-Jennings, director of human resources at the hospital, said: "We are committed to supporting our staff to become excellent and feel that we should hold them to account for the services they deliver.

"We also feel that it is imperative that we investigate if procedures and policies are not followed thoroughly.

"The safety of our patients and our staff is our highest priority, and we will continue to take action when standards and procedures have not been followed."

Julie Bailey, founder of Cure the NHS, said the increase was welcome.

She said: "It is good that they are starting to do something about staff who have delivered poor care to patients because we know that for years nothing was done.

"It is a good start to see people being identified and action being taken."