Poor standard of care at the National Health Service have led to 12,000 early deaths a year, prompting investigators to order an annual review of UK's publicly funded healthcare system.
Health Ombudsman, the NHS regulator, has been described as "inadequate" and criticized for "failing patients" after 150 cases were reviewed and investigated, Breitbart News reported. In an effort to increase standards, the annual review of 2,000 deaths was announced by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
"In the 1970s there were about 2000 deaths a year from airline crashes, and the industry realized they would go out of business if people became too scared to fly," Hunt told the Sunday Telegraph.
"Now the global figure is around 500, even though there is nine times as much air travel... Why hasn't the health service adopted the kinds of standards we now take for granted in the airline and nuclear industry?"
On Wednesday, a report about how doctors are treated by NHS if they bring up safety concerns will be presented to the parliament by Sir Robert Francis, a trusted figure amongst the medical profession who received 18,000 responses from NHS whistleblowers.
Once Francis, who uncovered neglect and mistreatment of patients at the NHS Trust between 2005 and 2009, releases his latest report, Hunt is expected to launch a package of measures against the NHS, including a call for annual review.
"On high death rates, failing hospitals and whistleblowing, we are calling time on the cover-up culture and ushering in a new era of transparency," he said.
However, NHS complaints procedures have long been unsatisfactory, Roy Lilley, a former NHS trust chairman, said.
"The trust is absolutely the wrong person to investigate this because the trust is investigating the trust, it should be done independently and outside the purview of that organization," he said. "I don't think the numbers are sufficiently robust, but I do think that they confirm the concerns that a lot of people have about how the NHS deals with complaints."
Last month, it was also revealed that a silent battle between doctors and midwives at an NHS hospital had led to the tragic death of 30 patients, including babies and mothers, over the last decade.
According to evidence from a government enquiry, vulnerable mothers and babies were put at risk by midwives who were not on speaking terms with doctors at the hospital, the Sunday Times reported. Now, the victim's families are seeking answers as to why none of those responsible for the 30 deaths have been held accountable.
Meanwhile, pressure has been mounting for more accountability within the health service following the Mid-Staff's hospital scandal, in which hundreds of patients lost their lives through neglect and substandard care between 2005 and 2009.
Similar problems, and thousands more deaths, were subsequently found at a number of other hospitals across England.
