Families bereaved by failings at Stafford Hospital are planning to sue NHS managers for corporate manslaughter.

As many as 1,200 patients died amid substandard conditions and care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2008.

But it emerged last week, following the publication of a highly critical report commissioned by the Government, that none of the senior managers who were in charge at the time faced disciplinary action.

Martin Yeates, the former chief executive, received a large pay-off while others were either paid off, walked into another job or were allowed to remain in post.

Now Cure The NHS Campaign, a group created by people who lost relatives or were victims of poor care and support within Mid-Staffordshire Foundation Trust hospitals, has announced it will take matters into its own hands.

Its leader, Julie Bailey, whose mother Isabel died at Stafford Hospital, said it is considering launching a private prosecution of board members including Mr Yeates, Chairwoman Toni Brisby and nursing head Dr Helen Moss.

"These people need to be brought to account," Miss Bailey, from Stafford, said.

"What they did in our eyes is tantamount to corporate manslaughter and Cure The NHS is looking at bringing a private civil case against the managers for just that.

"This is especially important if the judicial review to get a proper public inquiry fails because none of them has taken the stand in public to give evidence.

"These managers presided over care while our loved ones suffered and died. It doesn't seem credible that they can walk away from Mid Staffordshire unblemished."

The plans to take legal action over Stafford coincided with the news that five other hospitals with high patient deaths had escaped investigation by regulator the Care Quality Commission.

The full story is available from here : Stafford Hospital scandal families 'to sue NHS managers for corporate manslaughter' - Telegraph