Stafford Hospital inquiry looks into “human rights” violations in care

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDNov 10 2010

A public inquiry into conditions and care at Stafford hospital in Stafford, England heard that the hospital was violating basic human rights of the patients. The counsel for Cure the NHS, a campaign group set up by relatives of some of the people who died at the hospital after receiving inadequate treatment established the fact that the standard of care constituted inhuman and degrading treatment at the facility.

This hearing is the fifth into the hundreds of higher than expected deaths at the hospital between 2005 and 2008. Earlier the inquiry was held in private. The new coalition government ordered that an inquiry be held in public. The inquiry is being chaired by Robert Francis QC.

Jeremy Hyam, counsel for Cure the NHS, said, “The stark and worrying concern is that the regulatory system supposedly in place was wholly ineffective to prevent a dramatic lowering of standards not just for a matter of months, but for at least four years.” He added, “The inquiry is the culmination of more than three years of campaigning by members of Cure to expose the failings at Stafford Hospital.” Concluding his opening speech he said the inquiry was a chance to look at the regulation system within the NHS.

The inquiry was adjourned until Thursday.