British hospitals, not the place to be

Senior managers who presided over one of the worst of the NHS’ recurring hospital scandals, in which up to 1,200 patients died, have got off “scot free”, leads the Daily Telegraph. This follows the publication of a report on conditions at the Stafford hospital in the West Midlands, commissioned after complaints from residents were supported by statistics showing an alarmingly high death rate. The report found that patients “were left in soiled bedclothes” faced with “hostile staff”. “Families of patients had to clean lavatories and public areas themselves, while food and drinks were left out of reach and, it was alleged, patients drank out of vases,” the daily reports. None of the executives who presided over the disaster have been censured. All “were either paid off, walked into another job or allowed to remain in post”, with the former chief executive awarded “a pension worth £1.27 million (€1.44 million)”.