British government hospitals are likely to be threatened with closure if they covered up doctors’ mistakes and poor treatment of patients, following a public inquiry into one of the country’s worst health scandals.
The 11 million pounds (around $18 million) review into serious failings at Stafford Hospital will demand hospitals also face fines while incompetent managers will be weeded out, Daily Express reported.
There will also be better training for nurses and healthcare assistants.
The Francis report about what went wrong at the hospital between 2005 and 2009, where up to 1,200 people needlessly died in horrific conditions, will recommend a major overhaul of health service regulation.
The report is to be delivered to MPs this month after a two-year inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC.
The report paints a devastating picture of the state of the National Health Service (NHS) and condemns the “culture of fear” from Whitehall to the wards which allowed bullying and secrecy to continue while patients were neglected.
Thousands of patients at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust were affected by the scandalous lack of care which left many unwashed and crying in pain.