In his first report, Mr Francis specifically criticised the trust for being obsessed with obtaining foundation trust status and meeting targets rather than patient care. There was a perception that managers were more focused on the organisation attaining foundation trust status than on quality of care. Staff and patient concerns were repeatedly ignored by senior management in favour of balancing the books. The skill mix ratio of registered nursed to healthcare assistants ratios dropped as low as 40:60 in some areas. Posts were cut and the wards were reorganised into a money-saving “clinical floors” system. It also highlighted a bullying culture at the trust and said that senior managers were in denial about the extent of the problems there. The first Francis report, published in 2010, listed historic understaffing of nurses as one of a number of reasons for poor care. Why was care so poor at Stafford Hospital? Many patients and relatives also reported being treated with callousness by nursing staff.Ĥ. In addition, the inquiry heard that receptionists in the accident and emergency department had regularly triaged patients. Patient falls were also concealed from relatives. The public inquiry heard common themes of call bells going unanswered, patients left lying in their own urine or excrement, or with food and drink out of reach. In his previous independent inquiry, Mr Francis estimated the deaths ranged into hundreds, with around 500 occuring between 2005-08. It was widely reported in the media that an estimated 400 to 1,200 people could have died unnecessarily there between 20, though these figures were never formally published by the commission. The Healthcare Commission – the forerunner of the Care Quality Commission – exposed appalling treatment and high mortality rates at the hospital. He announced a full public inquiry on 9 June 2010. He was good to his word when he took office following the last general election. The first was based on an independent inquiry, which was held behind closed doors.Īndrew Lansley, who was health secretary from June 2010 till September 2012, made a commitment that he would commission a public inquiry while the Conservatives were in opposition. It will, however, be Mr Francis’ second report into what happened at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust. The findings from the inquiry are due to be published this week in a document widely referred to as the “Francis report”. The inquiry was held in public between November 2010 and December 2011. He recently chaired a public inquiry into how poor care at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust was allowed to happen in the period between January 2005 and March 2009, and why none of the organisations responsible for regulating or managing the trust spotted problems sooner. Robert Francis QC is a barrister with extensive experience of clinical negligence claims.
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