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Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

I would ask the hon. Gentleman to refer his constituents to the statement made by the Care Quality Commission today. I will place its letter, which gives assurances about the NHS as a whole, in the Library. I should say to him that there is a need for constant vigilance on safety standards in the NHS. The HSMRs are not, of themselves, evidence of failure—but they can provide a trigger for inquiry into whether standards are sufficiently high at any one hospital. I encourage him to continue to ask questions and to work with his local trust to ensure that standards are sufficiently robust at his local trust; that is exactly what I do with my local hospital. However, we need a better measurement of mortality ratios so that we can all be clear about, and have confidence in, what they tell us about our local hospitals.