The Mid Staffordshire Hospital scandal continues; The health and safety executive are now prosecuting the Health Authority for some of the most blatantly negligent of the 600 odd deaths caused by poor staff and management at this nightmare group of hospitals.
Except it is being wound up and effectively a 'legal body' is being taken to court when it should have been the management and those directly responsible.
This would be just a farce except one of the deaths occurred last year - long after the scandal was exposed, the official report was published and a 'new' trust created to take over.
You can read about Mid Staffs and The Francis Report on the archive pages of this Blog.
This is from The Daily Telegraph;
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust charged over four deaths
The trust at the centre of the worst ever NHS scandal is facing criminal charges over the deaths of four patients
The trust which ran Stafford Hospital is to face criminal charges related to the deaths of four patients - one as recent as last year.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has brought charges against Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust over the deaths of four elderly patients between 2005 and May 2014.
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was at the centre of one of the biggest scandals to hit the health service over the deaths of hundreds of patients, amid appalling failings in care.
The HSE said the charges related to the deaths of Patrick Daly, aged 89, who died in May 2014, Edith Bourne, aged 83, who died in July 2013, Ivy Bunn, aged 90, who died in November 2008, and Lillian Tucker, aged 77 who died in October 2005.
Mrs Tucker died after a junior doctor gave her a penicillin-based drug despite being told she was allergic to the antibiotic, an inquest heard. She had suffered fall, which led to a small fracture while on a family holiday in the area.
His son later said he "would not touch the hospital with a barge pole" after detailing the family's repeated warnings about his mother's allergy.
The HSE said it had charged Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust following a "thorough and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances of four deaths of patients under its care".
The trust is due to appear before Stafford Magistrates on November 4. A new trust began to run the hospital last November.
Last week police and health officials said they are investigating claims of an NHS “cover-up” over the death of a three-year old boy, Jonnie Meek, at Stafford Hospital, last year.
The parents of Jonnie Meek, who died at Stafford hospital, say failings were covered up .
This probe will check claims that statements from health workers who witnessed his death were falsified.
It is very rare for the HSE to act in cases involving clinical failings, and the body has previously been criticised for its reluctance to prosecute.
The Mid Staffs inquiry accused the body of “looking for reasons for not taking action rather than starting from a consideration of what is in the public interest. “
“The more serious and widespread a failure is, the less likely it is that the HSE will decide to intervene, even where it is apparent that no other regulator is likely to do so,” Robert Francis, the chairman of the inquiry said.
Last year the same trust was fined £200,000 over the death of Gillian Astbury, 66, who died in 2007 because nurses at Stafford hospital failed to give her the routine insulin she required to stay alive.
Wayne Owen, HSE principal inspector in the West Midlands, said: "We have concluded our investigation into the death of four patients at Stafford Hospital and have decided there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to bring criminal proceedings in this case."
The trust remains in place as a legal entity but no longer provides patient services.
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust took over the running of Stafford Hospital and Royal Stoke University Hospital.
The Mid Staffs special administrator Tim Rideout said the remaining "shell organisation" would oversee any "potential criminal liabilities".
He added: "I am committed to bringing matters to a conclusion as efficiently and effectively as possible in the best interests of the families concerned.
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutthenhs.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
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