NHS Cover-Up: Burnham Denies Pressuring CQC

Former health secretary Andy Burnham has denied pressuring the NHS watchdog to tone down criticism of hospitals during his time in the job.

Mr Burnham has faced questions about whether he influenced hospitals' watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at the time it gave Morecambe Bay NHS Trust a clean bill of health, despite deaths of mothers and babies.

Labour's shadow health secretary insisted he did not cover up any problems at England's hospitals in the run-up to the 2010 General Election and was in fact "actively working to identify them".

An open letter from David Morris, the Conservative MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, asked Mr Burnham: "How much 'pressure' did you put on the CQC to 'tone down' its criticism of hospitals?

"You were the Labour Secretary of State for Health, when the first whitewash inspection of the Morecambe Bay NHS trust occurred in the spring of 2010. This was a crucial pre-election season for you."

Mr Burnham told Sky News' Dermot Murnaghan that the suggestion he pressured the CQC was "fundamentally disproved" by the decisions he took while in office.

He cited his decision in 2009 to set up the Francis Inquiry to investigate failings at Stafford Hospital and said he was "taking steps" to address concerns about the health watchdog.

He said: "I can't recollect every detail of every discussion that I had in that period with the CQC.

Joshua Titcombe's father wrote to Mr Lansley three years ago

"I am confident that it wasn't brought to me that there was a major problem at Morecambe and action needed to be taken - that didn't happen.

"What I'm saying is I don't know whether concerns were raised as part of a more general meeting and I would have to review all the paperwork to provide that extra assurance."

In his reply to Mr Morris, he denied any hospital problems were swept under the carpet.

David Morris has also asked Mr Burnham to make public any emails, texts and letters in which the CQC was discussed and detail conversations he had with former CQC bosses Cynthia Bower and Baroness Young before the hospital was given a clean bill of health.

Meanwhile, Professor Sir Brian Jarman - head of the major healthcare information provider - has told Sky News that he alerted Morecambe NHS Trust to its high mortality rates in December 2009, but nothing was done.

His comments come as it emerged that another former health secretary, the Conservatives' Andrew Lansley, was warned about baby deaths at Furness General Hospital three years ago.

Mr Lansley received a letter from James Titcombe, whose son Joshua died aged just nine days at the hospital, raising concerns over inaction by the CQC.

"Despite all of these regulatory bodies, Joshua's death was preceded by the preventable deaths of other babies, yet no action was taken in time to make a different (sic) to our son," wrote Mr Titcombe.

Ex-CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower denies there was any cover up

He continues, "...there seems to be a gap in that the CQC can not investigate individual events and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman do not assess complaints to their office against principles of patient safety".

Mr Titcombe told Sky News he believes the CQC may have been under pressure from senior health officials not to uncover another big hospital scandal.

The reply to his letter from the Department of Health said it was unable to comment on individual cases.

Mr Lansley also faces allegations that he told whistleblower Kay Sheldon he was considering her dismissal from the CQC board after she warned a public inquiry in 2011 that the CQC was in disarray and public safety was at risk.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "The then Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley, was asked to consider removing Kay Sheldon from the CQC Board by the previous Chair of the CQC, Dame Jo Williams. He chose not to remove her.

"He ordered a review to establish the facts around how Kay Sheldon's raising of concerns about the CQC were handled, taking into account all perspectives.

"After considering its recommendations and the representations of Kay Sheldon he decided that she should remain a member of the Board."

Another whistleblower, former CQC head of media Roger Davidson, has told the Sunday Telegraph that he was forced from his job just before the 2010 General Election, after telling how one quarter of NHS Trusts had failed to meet basic hygiene standards.

In addition, a senior NHS official is facing calls to resign over links to Morecambe Bay.

Mike Farrar, who heads the body representing NHS trusts, was in charge of North West Strategic Health Authority (NWSHA) at the time of the failings.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman confirmed it was investigating complaints against the NWSHA.

Former bosses of hospitals' watchdog CQC have been accused of covering up a report which criticised their original inspection of the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust. They deny the claims.

The CQC gave the trust a clean bill of health in 2010 despite the deaths of up to 16 babies.

James Titcombe and other families who lost babies at the hospital are now calling for a police investigation and an independent inquiry to establish who knew about the alleged cover-up.

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