'Hate campaign' forces out woman who highlighted patient maltreatment

The campaigner who spearheaded efforts to highlight the maltreatment of patients at Stafford Hospital is set to leave the town after being subjected to abuse by some local people.

Julie Bailey, whose mother Bella died at the hospital in 2007, said she would move out of Stafford for an undisclosed location within the next week.

After spending her final day working at the cafe which Cure the NHS used as a meeting point during its battle to expose hundreds of “needless” patient deaths, Ms Bailey said she had been the victim of a politically-motivated “hate campaign”.

In a statement, Ms Bailey said: “It is a sad day, but I have no alternative than to move out of Stafford.

“The last few months have been very distressing time for myself and Cure The NHS, our main aim has always been a safer NHS for all.

“Difficult as it is for people, everyone must finally realise that patient safety must be the priority.”

Urging every NHS hospital to make the patient its main focus, Ms Bailey added that she would continue to dedicate her time to securing a safer health service.

The campaigner, who founded Cure the NHS, went on: “I am having to leave my home, my livelihood and my friends because a few misinformed local political activists have fuelled a hate campaign based on proven lies.

“The final straw for me was the desecration of my mum’s grave.

“Thank you to everybody who has supported us through this difficult journey that exposed the biggest disaster in NHS history, where hundreds of members of this community died.”

A public inquiry into “appalling” failings at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which published its final report in February, found that hundreds of patients were mistreated at the trust between 2005 and 2009.

Previous reports into the Trust estimated that as many as 1,200 patients may have died needlessly while in its care.