38-805: The Stafford Hospital scandal concerns poor care and high mortality rates amongst patients at the Stafford Hospital , Stafford , England, during the first decade of the 21st century. The hospital was run by the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust , and supervised by the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority . It has been renamed County Hospital . The scandal also resulted in the resignation of NHS Chief Sir David Nicholson in 2013. Julie Bailey , whose mother died in Stafford Hospital in 2007, started
76-519: A hung parliament , no single party having an overall majority in the House of Commons , for the first time in 36 years . The Conservatives emerged having the most seats, but 20 short of an overall majority. In the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement of 11 May 2010, the two parties formed a coalition government. The new Parliament met on 18 May for the swearing-in of Peers in
114-475: A cabinet committee specifically overseeing the operation of the coalition. Both parties' ministers shared collective responsibility for the government's positions, although the coalition agreement detailed several issues on which the parties agreed to differ; the Liberal Democrats abstained from voting in such cases. Clegg, as Deputy Prime Minister, took Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) when David Cameron
152-673: A campaign called Cure the NHS to demand changes to the hospital. She was supported by the Staffordshire Newsletter, but the Public and Patient Involvement Forum and the governors of the trust were defensive. The scandal came to national attention because of an investigation by the Healthcare Commission in 2008 into the operation of Stafford Hospital in Stafford , England. The commission
190-525: A day and we believe that's possible". A protest camp with more than 30 tents was established outside the hospital by the group in July 2014. Julian Porter, one of the founders of the camp said he feared increased journey times for patients making the trip from Stafford to one of the other hospitals could risk lives and increase the burden elsewhere. A meeting was organised by Jeremy Lefroy MP in March 2015 to discuss
228-446: A leaked KPMG report for NHS England which suggested shrinking the hospital and turning it into a rehabilitation and elective surgery centre. Campaigner Cheryl Porter called for an all-party delegation to London to demand the reinstatement of a fully functioning hospital. Cameron%E2%80%93Clegg coalition [REDACTED] The Cameron–Clegg coalition was formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when Cameron
266-412: A new duty of openness, transparency and candour amongst NHS staff, arguing that increasing 'micro-regulation' may produce serious unintended consequences. Medical lawyers offered their assistance to distraught and angry families who waited for proof that lessons had been learned. Many families of the victims felt that crucial questions have been left unanswered. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC),
304-510: A nurse who physically and verbally abused a dementia patient. Yeates was appointed to be Chief Executive of Impact (Alcohol and Addiction Services Shropshire and Telford) in November 2012. It later emerged in November 2013 that a "compromise agreement" had been agreed with him, whereby he had left the NHS with a gagging agreement in place. In April 2013, the Stafford Hospital was placed into administration by Monitor . This action "was taken after
342-471: A pay-off of more than £400,000 and a £1 million pension pot", escaped cross-examination at the inquiry due to self-reported ill-health "with post-traumatic stress disorder , a condition often associated with soldiers returning from war zones" but did participate with a written statement. Helene Donnelly, a nurse at the hospital, complained that the two Sisters running the department had told staff to lie about waiting times. The Sisters were suspended and Helene
380-473: A police investigation started following the discovery that a dummy had been taped to a baby's face, allegedly by a member of staff. In 2013 the hospital's regulator, Monitor , warned the trust was close to insolvent. Over the past five years there had been a 67% drop in the number of patients, largely due to a loss of patient's confidence following the Stafford Hospital scandal, and annual income had fallen by nearly £4 million. Stafford Hospital's mortality rate
418-596: A review team concluded that its services were clinically and financially unsustainable... [and also] concluded that the Trust was unlikely to be able to repay its debts." In April 2013, Yeates and Brisby were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the Stafford Borough Council "over allegations of misconduct in public office by knowingly giving false and misleading evidence relating to death rates to
SECTION 10
#1733084726314456-520: Is an acute hospital with less than 200 inpatient beds, opened in 1983. It is the main hospital in Stafford , England. The hospital is managed by University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust . County Hospital's Accident and Emergency unit is the only such facility in Stafford. Wards at County Hospital are numbered, with the exception of specialist units. The hospital changed its name on 1 November 2014 from Stafford Hospital to County Hospital as part of
494-605: Is now amongst the best within the West Midlands. In July 2013 two Stafford Hospital nurses were struck off the nursing register for falsifying A&E discharge times between 2000–2010 to avoid breaches of four-hour waiting targets. In May 2015 it was announced that children's services and eight beds for haematology and oncology patients would be transferred away from the hospital to Royal Stoke University Hospital and Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust as part of larger specialist wards. The day case chemotherapy suite
532-410: Is prone to methodological bias, and that it was not credible to claim that variation in mortality ratios reflects differences in quality of care. In 2015, The Guardian amended an article from 2013: ...subsequent investigations into the poor care at Stafford hospital, including the two reports by Sir Robert Francis QC, said that this disputed estimate, which appeared only in a draft report from 2009 by
570-511: Is to undergo a £2m investment in facilities and a new chemotherapy suite will open at Cannock Hospital. The Accident and Emergency service for children was withdrawn in August 2016 because the trust did not have enough specialist doctors to keep it open, but a minor injury unit for children was opened in October 2016. In September 2017 it was reported that 45 patients could not be discharged because of
608-465: The Foundation Trust 's management and detailed the conditions and inadequacies at the hospital. Press reports suggested that because of the substandard care between 400 and 1,200 more patients died between 2005 and 2008 than would have been expected for the type of hospital, based on figures from a mortality model, but the final Healthcare Commission report concluded that it would be misleading to link
646-714: The House of Lords and newly elected and returning Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, and the election for the Speakership of the House of Commons. The Queen's Speech on 25 May set out the government's legislative agenda. Of the 57 Liberal Democrat MPs, only two refused to support the Conservative Coalition agreement, with former leader Charles Kennedy and Manchester Withington MP John Leech both rebelling. The Liberal Democrats had five Cabinet members, including Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister – though after
684-449: The Cabinet and ministerial reshuffle , David Laws , who was a Minister of State , was allowed to attend the Cabinet but was not a full member. If a Liberal Democrat minister resigned or was removed from office, another member of the same party would have had to be appointed to the Cabinet. Each cabinet committee had a chair from one party and a deputy chair from the other; there was also
722-562: The Healthcare commission and was based on mortality statistics, was an unreliable measure of avoidable deaths. The Francis report of February 2013 concluded that it would be unsafe to infer from these statistics that there was any particular number of avoidable or unnecessary deaths at the trust. According to Jeremy Hunt the enquiry described a systematic failure by both the NHS and the Department of Health to deal with such problems. Protecting
760-569: The Trust achieving millions of pounds surpluses over a three year period, in order to gain Foundation status", a goal which had been fostered by successive governments setting target dates by which all NHS trusts were supposed to have reached NHS foundation trust status. For example, in 2009, the Department of Health was announcing "A new type of NHS hospital". The trust's chief executive, Martin Yeates,
798-495: The UK's regulator of nurses and midwives, held hearings about nurses working in the trust following allegations that they were not fit to practise. Acting to protect the public, the NMC has struck off from their register or suspended several nurses as a result of these hearings. This includes two who falsified accident and emergency discharge times, two involved in the death of a diabetic patient and
SECTION 20
#1733084726314836-513: The council's statutory overview and scrutiny committee". Sir David Nicholson , who was in charge of the NHS which was responsible for the hospital at the height of the failings between 2005 and 2006, resigned in May 2013 in connection with this scandal. An independent 2008 study into hospital standardised mortality ratios found that the mortality measure developed by the Foster Unit at Imperial College
874-590: The dissolution of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust . This hospital was built on the site of Coton Hill private psychiatric hospital which opened in 1854 and was demolished in 1976 with only the old chapel and gatehouse still visible. When the County Hospital site opened in 1983 it was named Stafford District General Hospital . The hospital was renamed Staffordshire General Hospital when Staffordshire General Infirmary , also in Stafford, closed in
912-504: The early 1990s and services transferred. It was widely described as a "showpiece" hospital on its opening. However, in early 1985 it was the site of the second major outbreak of Legionnaires' disease . In October 2011 a Care Quality Commission inspection found a lack of suitably trained nursing staff on duty in the accident and emergency department. In consequence the department was closed at night for three months to remedy this, and to allow time for staff development. In January 2013
950-401: The inadequate care to a specific number or range of numbers of deaths. The Healthcare Commission criticised the foundation trust board, which was led by chief executive Mr Yeates and chairman Ms Brisby, for holding in camera board meetings and "for making cutbacks to staffing and services in order to make millions of pounds' worth of surplus at the end of each year," because "bosses focused on
988-456: The lack of community and domiciliary services. Staffordshire County Council said they could not meet the delayed transfer of care targets. The hospital has been at the centre of the major scandal in which numerous newspapers estimated that because of the substandard care between 400 and 1,200 more patients died between 2005 and 2008 than would be expected for the type of hospital. In February 2010, an independent investigation recommended that
1026-555: The mainstream UK press; for example, patients were left in their own urine by nurses. In June 2010, the Cameron–Clegg coalition announced that a full public inquiry would be held. The inquiry began on 8 November 2010, chaired by Robert Francis QC , who had chaired the fourth inquiry which he had criticised for its narrow remit. The inquiry considered more than a million pages of previous evidence as well as hearing from witnesses. Former chief executive Martin Yeates, who "resigned with
1064-484: The regulator, Monitor , de-authorise the Foundation Trust status. The official investigation and report showed that the method used to collect mortality statistics was deeply flawed and so gave a false result. The Francis Report had no definite figure for any deaths caused by neglect or poor care. In June 2010, the new government announced a full public inquiry , expected to report in March 2011. The final report
1102-449: The regulator, Monitor , de-authorise the foundation trust. In February 2010, Burnham agreed to a further independent inquiry of the commissioning, supervisory and regulatory bodies for foundation trusts. As early as October 2010, compensation payments averaging £11,000 were paid to some of the families involved. The revelations of the neglect to patients at Stafford hospital were widely considered to be deeply shocking by all sections of
1140-475: The reputation of the NHS had become more important. Concentrating on national targets led to managers deprioritising the safety and well-being of patients. On 30 January 2019, Channel 4 announced that they had commissioned a drama of the Stafford Hospital scandal from the perspective of Julie Bailey . 52°48′40″N 2°5′52″W / 52.81111°N 2.09778°W / 52.81111; -2.09778 County Hospital, Stafford County Hospital
1178-412: Was first alerted by the "apparently high mortality rates in patients admitted as emergencies". When the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust , which was responsible for running the hospital, failed to provide what the commission considered an adequate explanation, a full-scale investigation was carried out between March and October 2008. Released in March 2009, the commission's report severely criticised
Stafford Hospital scandal - Misplaced Pages Continue
1216-536: Was harassed. She subsequently gave evidence to the Francis inquiry and was later appointed ambassador for cultural change at Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust. The final report of the Francis inquiry was published on 6 February 2013, making 290 recommendations. Academics at the University of Oxford and King's College London have criticised the recommendations of the Francis inquiry to legally enforce
1254-546: Was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government , following the resignation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010, after the general election on 6 May . It was the UK's first coalition government since the Churchill caretaker ministry in 1945. The coalition was led by Cameron as Prime Minister with Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister and composed of members of both Cameron's centre-right Conservative Party and Clegg's centrist Liberal Democrats . The Cabinet
1292-411: Was made up of sixteen Conservatives and five Liberal Democrats, with eight other Conservatives and one other Liberal Democrat attending cabinet but not members. The coalition was succeeded by the single-party, second Cameron ministry following the 2015 election . The previous Parliament had been dissolved on 12 April 2010 in advance of the general election on 6 May . The general election resulted in
1330-522: Was published on 6 February 2013, making 290 recommendations. Campaigners in the Support Stafford Hospital group led a 50,000-strong march through the centre of Stafford in April 2013 - a rally where protesters waved banners saying "Stafford saved my dad" and "Stafford looks after my son". The group said "We need to have an intensive care unit here, we need to have an accident and emergency 24 hours
1368-532: Was recruited to run the Care Quality Commission quango in March 2009, a move which was criticised. On 21 July 2009, the Secretary of State for Health , Andy Burnham , announced a further independent inquiry into care provided by Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust. The generally critical inquiry report was published on 24 February 2010. The report made 18 local and national recommendations, including that
1406-429: Was suspended (with full pay) and its chairwoman, Toni Brisby, resigned. On 15 May 2009, Yeates resigned. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Health Secretary Alan Johnson apologised to those who suffered at the hospital. In response to the scandal, the mortality rates of all National Health Service hospitals have been made accessible on a website. Cynthia Bower , who was from 2006 chief executive of NHS West Midlands ,
1444-545: Was unavailable. Key decisions were made by a core group called the "Quad", made up of Cameron, Clegg, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander , which decided "all major matters of policy" and resolved disputes between the two parties. While the government's front benchers sat together in the House of Commons and the two parties acted as
#313686