HEALTH Secretary Jeremy Hunt apologised on behalf of the Government and the NHS as the fall-out from the damning Kirkup review begins.

Mr Hunt, who described the major failings at Furness General Hospital as 'a second Mid Staffs' spoke at length in the House of Commons in the hours after the report was published.

"There is no greater pain for a parent than to lose a child, and to do so knowing it was because of mistakes that we now know were covered up makes the agony even worse," he said.

"Nothing we say or do can take away that pain, but we can at least provide the answers to the families’ questions about what happened and why, and in doing so try to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.

"We can do something else, too, which should have happened much earlier. And that is, on behalf of the Government and the NHS, to apologise to every family who have suffered as a result of these terrible failures."

He added: "The tragedy we hear about today must strengthen our resolve to deliver real and lasting culture change so that these mistakes are never repeated. That is the most important commitment we can make to the memory of the 19 mothers and babies who lost their lives at Morecambe Bay."

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock called on those responsible for mistakes to be held to account and for the re-opening of criminal investigations, if necessary.

"The scale of failure levels exposed by this forensic and devastating report is even greater than had been suspected by all but the grieving families who refused to back down in the face of terrible adversity," he said.

"While the overwhelming majority of local hospital staff strive every day for the highest professional and ethical standards, there is no escaping the deeply painful conclusion in Dr Kirkup's report that the hospital we love was compromised by gross failings in care and a deeply inappropriate defensiveness from certain individuals who served at the time."

South Lakes MP Tim Farron said the review 'shines a light upon one of the worst episodes of systemic failings within the NHS in recent times'.

"The first issues relating to maternity deaths at Barrow were raised back in 2004," he said. "It is awful that it has taken until today to get to the truth of what has happened. Eleven years is simply too long to wait. My thoughts are with the families who will be reading the report with apprehension and trepidation, hoping words will finally be turned into action.

"I will continue to do all I can to try and support the families affected and campaign alongside them for the report's recommendations to be enacted."

And David Morris, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, said: "The University Hospital of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust have had a change of management since the tragic deaths and failures and I have full confidence that the team lead by Jackie Daniel have implemented necessary change to ensure that the service being provided is now safe."