Commenting on the Healthcare Commission report into Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, Karen Jennings, UNISON Head of Health, said:
“What a tragedy for NHS staff and patients caught up in this shocking report.
“It is clear that senior managers at the Trust were too tied up with targets and concentrated their efforts on getting Foundation status, instead of focusing their attention on patient care.
“It seems unbelievable now that despite a history of clinical and staffing problems and failures at Mid-Staffordshire, the Trust was awarded Foundation status in February last year. It is time Monitor, the regulator, was held to account and made to raise the bar regarding the standards it is sanctioning when awarding foundation status.
“Employing more nurses, doctors and healthcare staff has been an obvious first step, but the Trust needs not only good, but stable leadership, if it is to regain the trust of the local community.
“In addition hospitals need to get out of the cycle of trying to win Foundation status and the regulator needs to be more rigorous in granting that status to failing trusts.