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Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

I do care about patient safety, and I say again that it is the overriding concern for every NHS organisation in the country, including NHS London. However, I would ask the hon. Lady to open her mind to the possibility that at times changes to hospital services are necessary to enhance standards of patient safety. The National Audit Office recently pushed Ministers on the reform of major trauma services, which implies a reconfiguration of hospital services. The lesson in the Mid Staffs case is that the trust was acting in isolation without sufficiently well developed clinical networks in its surrounding community. I say to the hon. Lady that sometimes patient safety may be enhanced, rather than diminished, by the reorganisation of services.