News Release

17th March 2009

FABRICANT 'APPALLED AND SHOCKED' BY DAMNING HOSPITAL REPORT

Following the publication of the Healthcare Commission's report into the Mid Staffordshire Hospital, Michael Fabricant says: "I am shocked and appalled at this damning report. I fear that some of my constituents may have died needlessly in this Hospital. Some years ago, an ambulance paramedic advised me that in life threatening cases, it was safer to go the Queen's Hospital in Burton rather than Stafford. Despite Stafford not being my constituency, I took this up at the time, but was advised there wasn't a problem at this Hospital. It is particularly worrying that the blind pursuit of Government targets was a major contributory cause to this. The Health Secretary was warned about this by a series of Conservative Shadow Health Ministers but they were ignored".

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says: "The public will be rightly shocked by the poor standards of care exposed at this Hospital. It is unacceptable that the pursuit of targets - not the safety of patients - was repeatedly prioritised, alongside endless managerial change and a 'closed' culture, which failed to admit and deal with things going wrong.

"While the standards at Mid Staffordshire between 2005 and 2008 are not typical of the NHS, and the Trust is taking remedial action, the Government can learn from the mistakes.

"First, every NHS organisation must focus on outcomes for patients, including safety of care and the quality of care. Organisational changes, financial pressures and Government-imposed targets have all diverted management away from that focus.

"Secondly, we have to use the data on outcomes actively to investigate where results are poor. The purchasers of services on behalf of patients must be active in ensuring the quality care of their patients.