Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry: Executive summary (6 February 2013)

Summary

Between 2005 and 2008 conditions of appalling care were able to flourish in the main hospital serving the people of Stafford and its surrounding area. During this period this hospital was managed by a Board which succeeded in leading its Trust (the Mid Staffordshire General Hospital NHS Trust) to foundation trust (FT) status. The Board was one which had largely replaced its predecessor because of concerns about the then NHS Trust’s performance. In preparation for its application for FT status, the Trust had been scrutinised by the local Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and the Department of Health (DH). Local scrutiny committees and public involvement groups detected no systemic failings. In the end, the truth was uncovered in part by attention being paid to the true implications of its mortality rates, but mainly because of the persistent complaints made by a very determined group of patients and those close to them. This group wanted to know why they and their loved ones had been failed so badly.

The report was laid before Parliament in response to a legislative requirement.

Content

This Inquiry examines the involvement of numerous agencies with the events at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust within a defined period: January 2005 to March 2009. This is the executive summary which includes 290 themed recommendations.