Police probing Stafford Hospital death

Police have launched an investigation into the death of a Cannock woman at Stafford Hospital, it emerged today.

Two members of staff have been suspended pending the result of the probe.

Medical notes relating to the treatment of the 57-year-old woman have been handed to officers.

The administration of a controlled drug while the patient was receiving critical care is at the centre of the investigation.

Hospital bosses reported the death to the coroner, who alerted police. A post mortem has been carried out but further tests are required to establish a cause of death, police said today.

The death is listed as a 'serious untoward incident' in a report which will go before tomorrow's meeting of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital.

Read the full story in the Express & Star.