Compensation sought after familiy loss
Losing a loved one who has been taken into hospital or receiving substantial care, can be a hard issue to grasp.
As a result,a new organisation is looking at providing the help and support to people who have been affected by such a problem.
Cure The NHS Campaign, a group created by people who lost relatives or were victims of poor care and support within Mid-Staffordshire Foundation Trust hospitals, has announced it will take matters into its own hands.
As many as 1,200 patients have died amid substandard conditions and care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2008.
Senior staff not being held accountable
Following the recent publication of a highly critical report commissioned by the Government, it was found that none of the senior managers, who were in charge at the time of the negligence, faced disciplinary action.
Martin Yeates, the former chief executive, received a large pay-off; while others were either paid off, walked into another job or were allowed to remain in their post.
Julie Bailey, the leader of the Cure the NHS Campaign, has been affect by the loss of a loved one too.
Her mother died at Stafford Hospital. Julie said that the group is considering launching a private prosecution of board members including Mr Yeates, Chairwoman Toni Brisby and nursing head Dr Helen Moss.
Corporate manslaughter
Miss Bailey said: "These people need to be brought to account. What they did in our eyes is tantamount to corporate manslaughter and Cure The NHS is looking at bringing a private civil case against the managers for just that.
"This is especially important if the judicial review to get a proper public inquiry fails because none of them has taken the stand in public to give evidence.
"These managers presided over care while our loved ones suffered and died. It doesn't seem credible that they can walk away from Mid Staffordshire unblemished."
The plans to take legal action over the service due to the medical negligence, coincided with the news that five other hospitals with high patient deaths had escaped investigation by regulator, the Care Quality Commission.
Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Foundation Trust, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust all had unexpected death rates above the national average.
The negligence case that Miss Bailey is filing can act as a form of compensation claim also, to help with financial issues caused due to losing a family member.
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, called for the hospitals to be investigated urgently.
"We cannot allow Stafford to happen again," he said. "The Health Secretary has to ensure these hospitals are inspected to clear the air."
Patients abused and neglected
An independent inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC, a specialist in clinical negligence, found that patients at Stafford hospitals were abused and neglected by hostile staff and were left in humiliating and undignified conditions.
Patients, most of whom were treated at the trust's main hospital in Stafford, were 'robbed of their dignity', left in soiled bedclothes, unwashed and in states of undress in full view of others, it found.
However, Mr Francis also found that 18 of the 22 board members who ran the trust over the period under investigation had now left their roles, with none facing disciplinary action.
Several doctors involved in Mid Staffordshire have also been referred to the General Medical Council for investigation and the Nursing and Midwifery Council has opened a case file, and is investigating at least one nurse.
Updated on 3/24/2010