Stafford Hospital could have faced prosecution

Stafford Hospital could have been successfully prosecuted over the appalling care of hundreds of patients, it has been claimed.

The public inquiry into failures at the trust heard the hospital could have found itself in the dock under health and safety laws – but inspectors decided "within seconds" not to take action.

It was also revealed that doctors and nurses who cause patients harm are unlikely to face prosecution under health and safety laws after the agency responsible admitted it was not a priority.

Staffordshire's principal inspector for the Health and Safety Executive Clive Brookes told the Francis Inquiry that the HSE decided not to prosecute the hospital after the publication of the damning Healthcare Commission report which exposed poor care at the hospital in March 2009.

But in his evidence he said it would have been possible to launch an investigation based on the hospital's failure "to plan for, organise, control, monitor and review the material health and safety risks to their patients.

"On the basis of the limited information I have, I believe there would probably be a realistic prospect of a conviction."

But Mr Brookes said the policy of the HSE was not to get involved in poor care cases and that the Healthcare Commission report could not be used as a basis for a prosecution.

He said the report did not meet the criteria for criminal evidence and that the HSE would need to start again with a completely new investigation.

He said: "We went backwards and forwards, it took seconds to make that decision, based on what we'd all read. The HCC report was not material in a form that should be put in front of a court."

Mr Brookes said he hoped the inquiry would lead to greater clarity on what roles agencies should have.

He told the inquiry that despite the law of the land the HSE had made a policy decision not to investigate matters of clinical judgment and poor care.

He said: "We currently don't have the resources to look into patient care in hospitals, we do not have the people to do it.

"We do not get involved with the provision of care generally." Mr Brookes added that to investigate poor care "would create precedents all over the place" with many cases the HSE could not handle.