Stafford Hospital bosses could face courts, Jeremy Hunt pledges
Bosses who presided over the Stafford Hospital scandal will be hauled before the courts if police find evidence to bring charges, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt pledged today.
Mr Hunt said any decision over prosecuting board members would be "a matter for the law", as a police probe into the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of patients at Stafford continues.
It is the clearest indication yet that former chief executive Martin Yeates could face criminal sanctions.
In an interview with the Express & Star, Mr Hunt said chiefs at Stafford had "trampled on the dignity and respect patients deserve". He was speaking after announcing sweeping reforms in the House of Commons designed to safeguard against a repeat of Stafford, where between 400 and 1,200 patients are believed to have died unnecessarily between 2005 and 2009.
Staffordshire Police is investigating "excess" deaths at the hospital following publication of the £13 million Francis Report. Under the NHS reforms announced yesterday, failing bosses face being banned from other health service jobs.
Other moves include imposing a legal obligation, known as a "duty of candour", on hospital boards to tell the truth about errors made by doctors and nurses.
A post of Chief Inspector of Hospitals will be created and lead an Ofsted-style inspection system acting as "Whistleblower-in-Chief". Department of Health bureaucrats will also have to spend time with front-line health workers. The overhaul comes in response to Robert Francis QC's shocking findings that highlighted "appalling and unnecessary suffering of hundreds of people" at Stafford Hospital.
Mr Hunt said: "I agreed there will be criminal sanctions on boards who try to cover up what is going on. The Francis Report set out what went wrong and they will be under obligation to report to patients and their families if they have harmed them. If they deliberately fabricate that information there will be criminal sanctions." When asked whether former Mid
Staffordshire Trust board members could face criminal action, he said: "It will be a matter for the law. Given that the police are investigating what has happened, I couldn't comment any further."
He added: "The needs of patients were trumped by corporate objectives in pursuit of Foundation Trust status. They trampled on the dignity and respect patients deserve."
