Police called after baby found with dummy taped to face at Stafford Hospital

A member of staff has been suspended and that police are investigating the incident, Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust said.

The trust, which is at the centre of a public inquiry into serious failings of care, said the baby was unharmed.

Colin Ovington, director of nursing and midwifery at the trust, said: "We have a zero tolerance approach to poor patient care and we take immediate, appropriate action as soon as we know about any potential serious incidents which happen in our hospitals.

"We are proud that our staff now feel confident to report any incidents which happen. We will continue to encourage staff to do this and will continue to report incidents, even before they have been fully investigated, despite any negative attention this may create.

"One of our recent incidents involved a dummy that was found taped onto a baby's face. Fortunately, the baby was unharmed.

"The incident is under investigation by the police and so we are unable to give any more information at the moment. A member of staff has been suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation and the trust's investigation under our disciplinary policy.

"We cannot emphasise strongly enough that this incident is exceptional and apologise again to the family. We want other hospitals to learn from this incident so that we can be sure that it does not happen to any other baby."

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: "Officers from our Protecting Vulnerable People Department are at the very early stages of investigating a complaint concerning the treatment of a baby boy by a member of staff at Stafford Hospital earlier this month.

"The baby boy, who was four months old at the time, was not harmed as a result.

"We are liaising closely with his family and the NHS Trust concerning the matter."

The report from the public inquiry into failings at the trust will be published on February 6.