Bid to expose Stafford Hospital scandal 'blocked by watchdog'

Members of a watchdog meant to hold Stafford Hospital to account repeatedly blocked attempts to raise the alarm about standards, the Francis Inquiry has been told.

Terry Deighton told the inquiry into the scandal-hit hospital that his attempts to have issues discussed by the PPIF, or Public Patient Involvement Forum, in Stafford were blocked and he was branded a troublemaker.

Mr Deighton joined the forum in 2005 but after visiting Stafford Hospital he became concerned about the cleanliness of the wards.

He discovered the PatientLine phones offered to patients were passed between people without being cleaned and were in fact only cleaned once a week.

Mr Deighton told the inquiry forum members had vested interests. He said: "Without exception when I joined, they had all had some direct involvement with the hospital, and the general feeling was that the hospital has done a lot for me, I would like to do something in return."

He said the group did not believe his worries about the hospital and were unwilling to take them on.

He added: "I tried to raise them with the PPIF as an item on the agenda, and it never appeared on the agenda. It was not thought that it was the responsibility of the PPIF to tell the hospital how they should clean, what methodology they should use."

When he tried to raise the issue with Health Minister Rose Winterton she directed him back to the forum.

In February 2006 Mr Deighton and other members carried out an inspection of the hospital in which he found shocking examples of bad hygiene.

He found blood on the doors to the A&E, chairs were ripped with foam coming out covered in dirt and blood, and the toilets were also dirty.

He described the department as "disgusting". He tried to get the hospital and forum to take up the issue but to no avail.

After the inspection Mr Deighton handed in his findings and resigned from the forum, the inquiry heard.

He then exposed his findings to the Press. Mr Deighton told the inquiry he received threatening letters from former trust solicitor Kate Levy after this.