SIR – It is just over a couple of weeks since the publication of the Francis Report into Stafford Hospital, where some 1,200 patients died in appalling circumstances due to systematic failures by managers and staff at the hospital.

Had any other institution been involved in a scandal on this scale, the consequences would have been momentous and sackings, arrests and prosecutions would have ensued.

Had it involved a private hospital, it is likely the hospital would have been closed down already, and those in charge publicly shamed and facing jail.

Astonishingly, nothing has happened. Politicians from the Lib/Lab/Con party have made perfunctory expressions of concern, while agreeing there must be no scapegoats.

Surely, those responsible for the mistreatment or neglect of patients in NHS hospitals should be treated the same as we treat those who inflict similar pain, suffering and death to those in their care at home.

If mothers can be jailed for causing injury to their children at home, so should those who do so in our hospitals.

We must not allow this to be swept under a carpet by the Lib/Lab/Con party, and those responsible must face the consequences.

M DALEBO

Worcester