DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service.
Speaking today in
the House of Commons the Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:
"I apologise on behalf of the Government and the NHS, for
the pain and anguish caused to so many patients and their families
by the appalling standards of care at Stafford Hospital and for
the failures highlighted in this report.
"Patients will want to be absolutely certain that the
quality of care at Stafford hospital has been radically
transformed, and in particular, that the urgent and emergency care
is administered safely.
"I have today, jointly with Monitor, asked Professor Sir
George Alberti, the eminent physician and National Clinical
Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, to lead an independent
review of the Trust's procedures for emergency admissions and
treatment and their progress against the recommendations in the
report. He will report in five weeks' time and his findings
will be published to the House.
"The Healthcare Commission have told me that they are
confident that Stafford hospital is an isolated case, and that
having looked at other trusts with similarly high standardised
mortality ratios, they are reassured that a similar succession of
serious lapses in care has not occurred elsewhere.
"The National Quality Board has been set up to look at how
organisations work effectively together in patients' best
interests. It is composed of representatives of the Royal
Colleges, patient groups, regulatory bodies and clinical experts.
"I have asked the Board to look at how we can ensure that
any early signs that something is going wrong are picked up
immediately, that the right organisations are alerted, and action
is taken quickly.
"One of the reasons why the Healthcare Commission began
their investigation was that after having been initially alerted
to problems in the Trust, it became clear that there had been
serious failings for some time. The Healthcare Commission's
report raises serious concerns about why the primary care trusts
and the strategic health authority either failed to spot the
problems at the Trust or having spotted them, failed to act.
"I have asked Dr David Colin-Thome, the National Clinical
Director for Primary Care, to review the circumstances surrounding
Mid Staffordshire Trust prior to the Healthcare Commission's
investigation to learn lessons about how the primary care trusts
and the Strategic Health Authority - within the commissioning and
performance management system that they operate - failed to expose
what was happening in this hospital. His recommendations will
focus on what commissioners across England - GPs and PCTs - can
learn from this case to be sure they are advocating effectively on
patients' behalf.
"Our principal concern today must be to reassure the
families and friends of patients who have died at Stafford
Hospital that they will be able to ascertain whether any of the
failings detailed in the Healthcare Commission's report
contributed in any way to the death of their loved ones. As the
Healthcare Commission has said, it is not possible to determine
conclusively from any set of statistics whether there were any
unavoidable deaths due to poor standards of care - that can only
be done through a case notes review.
"I can confirm that the new leadership of the Trust will
respond to every request from those relatives and carry out an
independent review of case notes to determine whether or not the
care they or their loved ones received was appropriate.
"The failings at Stafford hospital are inexcusable. I hope
we can close this chapter in the hospital's history, by
acknowledging and addressing past failings, and by ensuring that
lessons are learned by government and the NHS at all levels, to
make sure that these terrible failures are never allowed to happen again.
Notes to editors
The statement was delivered in the House of Commons at 12:30 on
Wednesday 18 March 2009 in response to the Healthcare Commission
investigation of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.