Stafford Hospital 'breached NHS values', says Health Secretary Andy Burnham

Feb 24 2010 By Ben Padley & Trevor Mason, Press Association

He said overall, the NHS nationally provides a "good standard" of care and the vast majority of patients are satisfied. But he added: "However, where things go wrong, we must face up to them and do everything in our power to ensure that these events can never happen again."

Both the Tories and Liberal Democrats renewed their calls for a full public inquiry, but Mr Burnham said the second inquiry he was setting up would meet those demands.

Mr Lansley said: "None of these reports - and this is now the fourth - have diminished the need for a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act where evidence can be taken in public and under oath.

"We cannot combat a culture of secrecy and bullying other than by the fullest openness and transparency in the investigation.

"We find no fault with Robert Francis's work. We do object to ministers setting up report after report, with constrained terms of reference, designed more to focus on local management rather than to get to the full truth and the full context of the tragedy at Stafford Hospital."

Mr Lansley blamed "top-down political targets" for "distorting clinical priorities" at the trust and called for them to be abolished.

Mr Burnham told him: "I don't think it's possible to read the report and conclude that it doesn't tell the full truth and the whole picture about what happened."

He said the report met the requirement for a "thorough" investigation and the draft terms of reference for the new inquiry included a presumption that it would be held in public.

"We have faced up to the enormity of what happened at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. We have laid it bare today in a very detailed report. I can assure you I take my responsibilities to act on the findings of this report with great seriousness and that is precisely what I will do."