Leigh Day & Co Solicitors have been instructed by Julie Bailey and Christine Dalziel of Cure the NHS regarding the Healthcare Commission’s investigation into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust to call for, and to challenge any refusal to hold a public inquiry, and to consider issues about the past and on-going patient care within the Trust.

The Commission’s investigation into the Trust, which examined the care of emergency patients, from the time they arrived in A&E, care on the Emergency Assessment Unit and subsequent admission to a surgical or medical ward, found “appalling standards of care and chaotic systems for looking after patients. There were inadequacies at almost every stage in the care of emergency patients. There is no doubt that patients will have suffered and some of them will have died as a result. The investigation found there were too few doctors and nurses, vital equipment was not available when needed, patients did not receive the care they deserved, and the trust had no systems in place to spot when things were going wrong.” (Sir Ian Kennedy, Chair of the Healthcare Commission)

Local residents and relatives of those who suffered and died at the hospital are now calling for a public inquiry to examine exactly what caused these “appalling standards” of care and why the Trust failed to put in place systems to ensure patients were cared for safely. They want to know why various regulatory bodies failed to take swift action when concerns were raised as early as the summer of 2007 and whether the pursuit of Foundation Trust status encouraged the Trust to prioritise financial management over patient care.

They are also calling for an urgent review of the standards of care being provided on the hospital wards other than in A&E. Grave concerns about these departments have been raised by the local community and so far not been properly investigated and/or addressed by the Commission, Secretary of State or other regulatory bodies.

The complaints procedure at the hospital also remains an area of concern amongst patients, their relatives and local residents. They believe an independent advocate or similar such individual or body needs to be appointed to deal with the concerns that have been and continue to be raised about the quality of care provided at the Hospital. At the moment, the Trust itself is dealing with these complaints, which Cure the NHS and their members do not consider appropriate.

Leigh Day & Co will be writing to the Secretary of State and the other public bodies involved in this case about all of these issues. It is also investigating individual claims of negligent, abuse and/or degrading treatment that has occurred and that are still continuing in the Hospital at the present time. 

The letter before action attached to this webpage has now been sent to the Secretary of State.

If anyone has any enquiries to make concerning any of these issues, please contact either Rosa Curling on 0207 650 1322 or Merry Varney on 0207 650 1338 or complete our online enquiry form.