Age Cymru welcomes Assembly debate on Stafford Hospital scandal

We must learn lessons from the Francis Inquiry.

Campaigners have welcomed a Welsh Assembly debate about protecting hospital patients in Wales in the wake of the Stafford Hospital scandal.

'The NHS in Wales - Learning from the Francis Inquiry' is a debate set to take place during the plenary session of the Assembly on Tuesday 9 July.

Age Cymru's Head of Policy and Public Affairs Graeme Francis says:
 "We all rightly expect and deserve to be treated with the highest levels of dignity and compassion by the NHS - particularly if we are physically or emotionally vulnerable, or close to the end of our lives.

"But unfortunately this simple requirement can be overlooked as we plainly saw at Stafford Hospital.

 "In this case, the care system betrayed vulnerable patients and let them down so badly that their basic human rights - such as protection from degrading treatment and the right to privacy, were undermined.

"We must protect patients from such catastrophic failures in the NHS and this is why it is vital that we learn lessons from the Francis Inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal, to make sure that the same things cannot happen in Wales."

"Dignity is a word that articulates people's minimum expectation of how they should be treated and the dignity and human rights of older people must be at the centre of health and care services.

"This is why Age Cymru believes there is a case for compulsory human rights and dignified care training for frontline health and social care staff in Wales to ensure that patients' dignity is always maintained."