Stafford hospital inquiry opens
Updated on 02 November 2009
A government-ordered inquiry begins into standards of care at Stafford hospital, where up to 1,200 people may have died unnecessarily. Jane Deith reports from Stafford.
Today a government-ordered inquiry into the scandal at Stafford hospital has opened in secret.
The chair of the inquiry says it will encourage staff to be open about what went wrong.
But relatives of those who died between 2005 and 2008 are furious that the evidence is being heard behind closed doors.
The campaigners are going to the high court in pursuit of a public inquiry. And one of them is planning to stand as an independent MP.
Many people in Stafford feel what has happened at their hospital is still shrouded in secrecy. Relatives of those who died want a full public inquiry - and they have one operating in private.
Julie Bailey's mother, Bella, died in Stafford hospital in 2007. Seeing MPs vote against a public inquiry was the last straw for her, and she is now seriously considering standing as an independent MP.
For Julie Bailey, it is now about more than finding out what happened to her mother and the hundreds of others - it is about fighting the secrecy and silence that still seems to surround Stafford hospital.
