Response to Mid Staffordshire should be low on regulation and high on clinical responsibility, conference hears

Ministers should resist creating a “new wave of regulation” in the wake of the public inquiry into failures of care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, a conference has heard.

Jeremy Taylor, chief executive of National Voices, a coalition of charities representing patients, called for a cautious and considered response to the investigation being chaired by Robert Francis QC.

He said, “First, don’t panic. In the UK we have a tendency to overreact to calamities. I think the power of regulation to improve safety and quality is limited.”

Mr Taylor was speaking at a Westminster Health Forum seminar on NHS quality and safety, held in London on Thursday 8 September. The event was convened to discuss what lessons might be learnt from the Mid Staffordshire saga to improve standards of care and make regulation more effective.

Mr Taylor, who is also …