Payouts for Stafford Hospital patients said to top £1m mark
Stafford Hospital has paid out more than £1 million in compensation to victims of "inhumane and degrading" treatment, it was claimed today.
A solicitor representing more than 100 victims of alleged abuse claims the sum has been paid out by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust to patients or their families.
A team at law firm Leigh Day made the compensation claims after arguing the trust had breached the Human Rights Act.
Next month, the results of a public inquiry into standards of care at the scandal-hit hospital are set to be released. It comes after between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected at the hospital from 2005 to 2008.
Human rights solicitor Emma Jones claimed thirsty patients had taken to drinking water out of flower vases because food and drink were put out of reach.
"Having visited the families of those who died, or victims who survived the horrors of this hospital, you cannot help but become angry and extremely worried that this is happening elsewhere," she said.
"We believe that care in some hospitals is so bad it continues to breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
"We await the report into Stafford Hospital and hope that change does come to what is still a healthcare system to be proud of and which remains the envy of the world, but it needs to continually improve."
In 2009, a report by the Healthcare Commission revealed a catalogue of failings at the trust and said patients had been put at risk by "appalling care".
It led to the £11 million public inquiry, led by chairman Robert Francis QC. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundations Trust was today unavailable for comment.
