Four senior doctors who presided over the institutional failings at Stafford Hospital will not be prosecuted after regulators said there was no evidence against them.
The General Medical Council (GMC) said no further action would be taken against Valerie Suarez or John Gibson, both former medical directors at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, because there was no evidence of wrong-doing. The same is true of David Durrans, a former deputy medical director, and Diarmuid Mulherin, a former clinical director.
The Trust has been at the centre of the biggest scandal in NHS history after a public inquiry found bad management and negligent staff caused the “appalling and unnecessary suffering of hundreds of people”. Blame was directed at hospital bosses who put financial targets above patient care. Despite this, Tom Kark QC said the case against the four doctors had “no sound basis for a finding of serious misconduct.”
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said: “We know that many of those who saw and experienced the appalling care at the Trust feel badly let down…that no one is taking responsibility for what happened. However, the law is clear: we can only prosecute a doctor if there is sufficient evidence of that individual’s wrongdoing.”
Julie Bailey, whose mother Bella died at Stafford Hospital, called it “absolute nonsense”. The member of the campaign group, Cure the NHS, said: “It’s not open and it’s not transparent. We’re talking about people’s suffering and people’s lives. I think this sends a very dangerous signal to others in the NHS that they can allow failure and nobody will be held to account.”
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