Individuals involved in a cover-up at a health watchdog could face disciplinary action and other sanctions, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the House of Commons today.

The comments came after a damning report concluded that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) might have deliberately suppressed an internal review which highlighted weaknesses in its inspections of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust in relation to 12 serious untoward incidents, including a cluster of deaths in the maternity department.

The revelations were branded "deeply disturbing and appalling" by Downing Street, and Mr Hunt told MPs in a statement that he was determined that "the whole truth must now come out".

The Health Secretary issued an apology on behalf of the Government and NHS to the families of those who died, including Joshua Titcombe who died at just nine days old at Furness General Hospital in 2008 after staff failed to spot and treat an infection.

Mr Hunt told the House of Commons: "What happened at Morecambe Bay is above all a terrible personal tragedy for all the families involved. I want to apologise on behalf of the Government and the NHS for all the appalling suffering they have endured."

The families of those affected had to "work tirelessly to expose the truth" in the face of a culture of "defensiveness and secrecy" similar to that seen in the separate Mid-Staffordshire scandal, said the Health Secretary.

And he said that today's independent report exposed failings in the CQC's response to concerns about the trust.

The watchdog gave Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, which ran Furness Hospital, a clean bill of health in 2010. A year later, as more concerns came to light, it ordered an internal review into how problems had been missed.

But in March last year it was decided the findings should not be made public as the review was so critical of the CQC Today's report, commissioned by the watchdog's new chairman David Prior after he took up his post in January, concludes that there is "persuasive evidence" that a senior CQC official ordered its review of the inspections it carried out to be deleted because it was "negative and therefore damaging for CQC".

The authors wrote: "We have asked ourselves whether such an instruction to delete the report could be characterised as a 'cover-up' and we believe that it could.

"The alleged decision to suppress it may constitute a broader and ongoing cover-up."

Mr Hunt told MPs that Mr Prior will now report to him on further action to be taken by the CQC, including possible "internal disciplinary procedures and other appropriate sanctions".

He said: "The whole truth must now come out and individuals must be held accountable for their actions."

"As we saw with Mid-Staffs, a culture in the NHS had been allowed to develop where defensiveness and secrecy were put ahead of patient safety and care," said Mr Hunt, who told MPs the Government was taking action to "root out this culture and ensure this kind of cover-up never happens again".

The new team running the CQC under Mr Prior have made it clear that there was "a completely unacceptable attempt to cover up the deficiencies in their organsation" under its previous leadership, said Mr Hunt.

He added: "The report lists what went wrong over a period of many years - unclear regulatory processes, a report commissioned and then withheld, lack of sharing of key information, communication problems throughout the organisations.

"Most of the facts are not in dispute. All of them are unacceptable. They have compounded the grief of the Titcombe family and many others.

"The role of the regulator is to be a champion for patients, to expose poor care and make sure steps are taken to root it out. It must do this without fear or favour and it's clear that in Morecambe Bay the CQC failed this fundamental duty."

Mr Hunt said that Mr Prior and the CQC's new chief executive David Behan, appointed in July 2012, "have never shrunk from addressing head on the failings of the organisation they inherited and are wholly committed to turning the CQC into the fearless independent regulator this House would like to see."

He said he had "every confidence" in their ability to undertake this task.

Outlining Government measures to protect patient safety launched in the wake of the Mid-Staffs scandal, the Health Secretary said: "We need a culture where from top to bottom of NHS organisations, everyone is focused on reducing the chances of harming a patient in the course of their care.

"And (we need) a culture of openness and transparency to ensure that when tragedies do occur, they are dealt with honestly so that any lessons can be learnt.

"Our thousands of dedicated doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants want nothing less. We must not let them down, nor any of the families who suffered so tragically in Morecambe Bay."