Stafford Hospital hearing told of door shut on complaints

An inquiry into the failures at Stafford Hospital has heard how a Department of Health official found "the doors closed on her" after trying to investigate concerns in 2005.

In his second day of giving evidence to the Francis Inquiry, Ken Lownds, of Cure the NHS, revealed how the Department of Health had tried to investigate the hospital years before the scandal emerged.

Mr Lownds said he had been told by North Staffordshire PCT associate chief executive Linda Riley that she had been sent to investigate in 2005.

Mr Lownds said she made the comment to him after the scandal of the hospital emerged in March 2009 and he urged the inquiry to investigate what happened.

He said: "In discussion with North Staffs PCT I learned from their associate chief executive, Linda Riley, that in 2005 as a staff member of the Department of Health's regional office she had been sent to Stafford Hospital to investigate concerns, but had found the doors closed to her."

Mr Lownds continued his history of the campaign by Cure the NHS and the repeated refusal by the Labour Government to listen to the group or to act on concerns, even after the Healthcare Commission report.

He said: "The reality was we, Cure the NHS, were persona non grata at Richmond House. We visited Richmond House to hand in a portfolio of all the complaints, all the cases that we had, and we were not allowed past the main doors."

He said ministers were more concerned with "spin and PR" than dealing with the situation at Stafford Hospital.

The inquiry heard how Cure the NHS urged the Government to bring in a specialist team of nurses to oversee care at the hospital and that wards should be closed while competency checks were carried out on staff and that "well poisoners" should be removed.

Mr Lownds said the changes were the only way to bring about a culture change at the hospital which he said was still needed.

He added that the culture at the hospital had proved "intractable" adding: "There are still cases of the kinds of failed care, awful care, chaotic care, that were so clearly set out by all our members to the inquiry.

"Deep down there are still major cultural problems there."