Health workers would be obliged by law to report abuse under proposals put forward after a series of damning reports into the depraved sex attacks carried out by predator Jimmy Savile.
The inquiries revealed the disgraced entertainer preyed on children as young as five and that many of his victims were seriously ill.
There were even reports Savile had sex with dead bodies in a hospital mortuary, in a chilling echo of previous allegations against him.
And it has been warned many aspects of the Savile scandal could be repeated in the future.
One report found the access given to Savile to hospital's across the country gave him the "opportunity to commit sexual abuses on a grand scale for nearly 50 years."
And its author, Kate Lampard told Sky News: "There are still risks and weaknesses in the arrangements in hospitals for keeping people safe."
His status was "enhanced by the endorsement and encouragement he received from politicians, senior civil servants and NHS managers".
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has apologised to the victims, and also criticised government ministers at the time who he said failed to ask "hard questions" about Savile.
He told MPs: Never again must the power of money or celebrity blind us to repeated clear signals that some extremely vulnerable people were being abused.
"People were either too dazzled or too intimidated by the nation's favourite celebrity to confront the evil predator we now know he was."
He said there should have been a stronger incentive on staff to report abuse claims, and announced a consultation on proposals to introduce a mandatory duty on NHS workers to act.
A separate report was also published into how Savile abused at least 60 people connected with Stoke Mandeville Hospital over more than 20 years, including patients, staff and visitors.
The offences ranged from groping and molesting through to rape.
Of he victims, 20 were vulnerable patients, including an eight-year-old.
The Stoke Mandeville report revealed staff knew of 10 allegations against Savile but failed to act.
The investigation team found if a formal complaint against Savile back in 1977 over the rape and abuse of an 11-year-old girl had been properly handled, the celebrity DJ probably would have been caught at the time.
The report also found evidence to suggest Savile had unsupervised access to the mortuary at Stoke Mandeville.
It said: "Two witnesses gave evidence to the investigation that they had heard Savile was having sex with dead bodies in the mortuary."
While the inquiry found no evidence of this, it said it was not possible to investigate the allegations further.
But Savile had admitted spending a lot of time in the mortuary to a hospital electrician, telling him: "Actually, I often come here for a crafty smoke."
Those staff who complained about Savile's behaviour, were "severely reprimanded".
Dr Androulla Johnstone, who wrote the Stoke Mandeville report, told a press conference Savile was an "opportunistic predator who on occasion could also show a high degree of premeditation" when planning attacks.
She said: "The individuals to whom these incidents were reported failed in their duty to protect.
"Consequentially, no intelligence about Savile's behaviour was gathered over the years and no action was taken.
"Whilst witnesses told us it was an open secret within the hospital that Savile was a lecher and general nuisance, none stated that they knew about his sexual abuse activities."
Lawyer Liz Dux, who represents many of the Stoke Mandeville victims, said it "beggars belief" the report found no evidence of senior staff being aware of the abuse.
But Dr Johnstone rejected claims of a "cover-up" by staff, and said Savile's behaviour went unchallenged due to a "general disbelief".
Savile, who received a knighthood in 1990, died in 2011 and so never faced justice for his crimes.
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