'Up To 13,000 Needless Deaths' In NHS Hospitals

By Sophy Ridge, Political Correspondent

Up to 13,000 people may have died needlessly in NHS hospitals since 2005, according to a report to be published in the coming days.

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS's medical director, will expose failings in 14 of the worst trusts in England.

He was commissioned by the Government to look into hospitals with high mortality rates after the scandal at Stafford Hospital.

The report, to be released on Tuesday, will criticise care standards and management failures, fuelling concerns about a problem with the NHS's culture where whistleblowers are afraid to speak out and regulators often fail to do their job.

Robert Francis QC issued a scathing report on Stafford hospital

It is expected to confirm fears that the 1,400 excess deaths at Mid Staffs were not a one-off.

One of the 14 trusts investigated, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation trust, had 1,600 more deaths than would have been expected in seven years, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

At Tameside - which is around half the size of Basildon - there were more than 830 excess deaths.

Christine Green, its chief executive, and Tariq Mahmood, its medical director, resigned just over a week ago, ahead of the publication of the report, and several board members have also stepped down.

A source close to the Health Secretary told Sky News that Jeremy Hunt is likely to put several hospitals on special measures as a consequence of Sir Bruce's report and warning signs being missed over many years.

The Conservatives are set to seize on it to attack Andy Burnham, who is now shadow health secretary and was in charge of the NHS in England from June 2009 until May 2010.

The report was commissioned in February by the Prime Minister after the results of the inquiry by Robert Francis QC into how the NHS failed to stop the Stafford hospital scandal happening.

The inquiry exposed appalling lapses in both the care of patients and the regulation of hospitals.

Jeremy Hunt is likely to put some hospitals on special measures

The 14 hospital trusts with the worse mortality rates over the last two years are Basildon and Thurrock, in Essex; United Lincolnshire; Blackpool, Lancs; The Dudley Group, West Midlands; George Eliot, Warwickshire; Northern Lincolnshire and Goole; Tameside, Greater Manchester; Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire; Colchester, Essex; Medway, Kent; Burton, Staffordshire; North Cumbria; East Lancashire; and Buckinghamshire Healthcare.

Sir Bruce examined not just mortality rates, but measurements including infection levels, the number of patients suffering from preventable and potentially fatal signs of negle

ct, and the numbers harmed by so-called "never events" such as operations on the wrong part of the body, or surgical instruments left inside a patient.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We are not prepared to speculate about the contents of Sir Bruce's review, or our response to it. We've shown consistently that we expect the NHS to be accountable where things go wrong.

"That is why the Prime Minister ordered an investigation to get to the bottom of these issues."

Mr Burnham told Sky News' Murnaghan programme he would account for all decisions he made in office and defended his record.

The shadow health secretary said he had warned about a number of hospitals when he left office but that several of the hospitals involved had deteriorated since the coalition took over.

He said: "I will account for all of the things I did as secretary of state. I took actions to reveal what happened at Stafford, I took actions at Basildon, at Tameside, I left warnings in place on five hospitals.

"The Conservative Party briefed this week they were wanting to target me personally. That is what they are wanting to do."

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