CURE the NHS founder Julie Bailey has vowed to carry on fighting for a better health service.

Mrs Bailey’s group was set up in response to the Mid Staffordshire scandal, where thousands of patients lost their lives.

And she believes the public must never forget those who lost their lives between 2005 and 2009 at the hospital.

She said: “Cure the NHS has asked those in charge to give the public the safe system we all need.

“I speak so that people do not forget what happened at the hospital.

“I talk about how we started the campaign and what I saw in those eight weeks.”

However, in what are challenging times for the health service - Mrs Bailey has called for an open debate about its future.

She said: “The problem with the NHS is there are many managers, but few leaders.

“We need to be honest with the public about what we can afford.We have to prioritise care for the most vulnerable in our society.”

Sir Bruce Keogh’s review has led to 11 hospital trusts being put into special measures.

And Mrs Bailey has urged the Government to implement the report’s recommendations.

She said: “The Government should fully implement the Keogh report.

“The executive has nothing to do with hospital staffing levels.

“Individual NHS Trusts decide their own staffing levels. What we want to see is safe staffing levels in every hospital.”

Two former Stafford nurses Sharon Turner and Tracey White have been struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council after being found guilty of misconduct.

However, Cure the NHS believe former Labour Health Secretaries Alan Johnson and Andy Burnham should face criminal prosecution over Stafford.

This is despite Sir Robert Francis QC ruling in February that no group or individual were to blame for the scandal.

Mrs Bailey said: “Andy Burnham and Alan Johnson need to be held to account.

“They knew what was happening at Stafford and they did nothing about it.

“We don’t know exactly how many people died. There are probably thousands and thousands.”

“We were disappointed when Robert Francis QC stood up in February and said no ministerial accountability.

“We informed the Secretary of State of a number of problems at Stafford.

“We have sat as a group for the last six years trying to raise awareness about the problems, but the Government did nothing about it.

“The last Labour Government rejected 81 requests for a public inquiry.We had to chase ministers across the country every weekend for two years.”

She believes a public inquiry would have highlighted problems within the NHS sooner.

She said: “We failed to get a public inquiry, which would have lead to these problems coming out two years earlier.”

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