Mr Farrar said:

"The stories in this report are shocking and deeply distressing. There is no one working in the NHS who will not feel saddened by what these patients and their carers have gone through.

"Our purpose is to care and we need to take responsibility for the issues that really matter to the people who use our services. We should never excuse poor standards of care and we need to take bold and decisive action when we see it happening.

"Improving dignified care is everyone's responsibility, from ward staff right up to board level. It starts by developing the right culture and leadership in an organisation, and that happens by management walking the wards on a regular basis, and by board members encouraging frank and honest feedback from patients and staff.

"There are many organisations doing great work to provide patients with dignified, person-centred care. But we know the NHS needs to do more to get it right for every patient, every time.

"We accept the public's challenge on raising standards, and we accept that the NHS has to do better to deal with these issues. We need a renewed focus on quality of care and the things that matters to patients. We need to ensure that the care provided to every NHS patient is of the standards of the best.

"We will continue to bring together leaders in the health and care home sector through our joint Dignity Commission to learn from good care as well as bad, and help stamp out these shocking examples of poor care."