E-petition launched to demand Morecambe Bay hospital boss's resignation (From The Westmorland Gazette)

E-petition launched to demand Morecambe Bay hospital boss's resignation

8:06pm Saturday 11th February 2012 in News By Gazette newsdesk

THE parents of a baby who died at Furness General Hospital's maternity unit have set up an e-petition calling for the resignation hospital trust boss Tony Halsall.

Liza Brady and her husband Simon, of Black Butts Lane, Walney, who lost their son in 2008, have registered the petition on an official Government website.

Both the police and the Care Quality Commission began separate investigations into FGH after a number of baby deaths at the Barrow maternity unit, which is run by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust (UHMBT). Other problems at the trust - including a follow-up appointments debacle affecting 19,000 patients and claims about A&E delays at Royal Lancaster Infirmary - led the health watchdog Monitor to intervene. Last week, it appointed former NHS North West chairman Sir David Henshaw to sort out the trust's problems.

Mr Halsall, the trust's chief executive, has refused to resign over UHMBT's troubles, despite severe criticisms of the trust's management culture and record. However, Monitor's chief operating officer Stephen Hay said Sir David had the power to sack the entire board if he felt it necessary.

The Bradys' petition can be found on epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29317 .