MP George Hollingbery said: “I have two families in the Meon Valley in touch with me who lost loved ones at the hospital, including one who saw both her parents die there.

"I have made it clear to them that lessons from what happened and the accountability of those involved would be raised in the House.

“The government will now respond fully to the report in the Autumn. The families, who have worked so hard to find answers for 20 years, need reassurance that all authorities will ensure such deaths cannot happen again.”

Hampshire Constabulary's chief Constable, Olivia Pinkney, has added this afternoon that it is "already apparent" from reading the 370 page report that the panel has had sight of information not previously seen by her police force.

She said: "It is important that a process is put in place to ensure that all of the relevant agencies come together, to enable decisions about next steps to be made in a way that is well considered and transparent to all of the families."

Image source, PA

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Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association, said: “We have heard of many instances of poor care over the years, but to deliberately shorten the lives of patients represents the very worst betrayal of patients that any doctor can commit.

“The report makes clear that leaders, clinicians and nurses at the hospital were all aware of what was happening, but that the failure to act ran from top to bottom. “Although the NHS has made progress in recent years, it is hard to feel confident that failings of this sort are impossible in today’s health service.“When patients and their families raise concerns in future they must be properly listened to and given full and open answers.”

Concerns were first raised about treatment at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital in 1998.

Matthew McClelland, director of fitness to practise at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: "I want to pay tribute to the families who have fought for 20 years to understand what happened to their loved ones at Gosport.

"It's clear that we and others badly let them down and I am very sorry for the role we have played in that.

"We will now carry out a careful review of the report to see what action we may need to take and what lessons we can learn.

"What we do know is that our communications with some of the families was unacceptable and for some of those who lost loved ones, we added to their distress.

"This report is a stark reminder that patients and their families must always be at the heart of what we do."

Vernon Gregory died at the hospital in 1989. His daughter Linda spoke following the disclosure of the report today.

She said: “Not only was my dad, in the 1980s at Gosport War Memorial Hospital, laying in a coma due to being overdosed and left to die, two years ago my mum was found also in a coma by myself at another hospital after going in for routine care, rather like my father, and she never came out alive.

“Something needs to be done soon in all hospitals to prevent such things ever happening again.”

When asked whether an outside police force should now investigate the new findings, she said “it’s difficult to say but maybe yes, call in an outside force”.

Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said if police decide to bring criminal prosecutions they would have the support of the government.

New Forest East MP Julian Lewis asked if Mr Hunt would agree that people who "are found wilfully to have administered lethal drug doses unnecessarily they deserve to lose their liberty."

Mr Hunt replied: "I don't think anyone in this House wouldn't share (his) sentiments but we have to let the law take its course now and we have to make sure that justice is done, and it has been denied for too long."

Long-time campaigner Gillian Mackenzie, whose mother Gladys Richards died aged 91 at the hospital in 1998, welcomed the report and hoped it would mean those involved would “get their comeuppance”.

She added: “They’ll have to bring 15 of the strongest cases into the criminal court because that’s where it deserves to go, whether that’s my case or not.

“As far as I’m concerned they have to get a conviction for all the rest of the families.”

Ken Woolley’s father John died at the hospital in 1996 after being admitted for a broken hip.

He said: “As soon as we saw him the next day he was unable to communicate due to the drugs they’d given him.

“There was another 11 days where he still couldn’t communicate before he died.”

Asked how he felt about the report, Mr Woolley, from Portsmouth, said: “Vindication, upset, distress, anger.

“Something has to come of this – they have to get to the bottom of it.”

He added he was not against Hampshire Constabulary leading a new investigation despite criticism for their previous inquiries.

“There will be a new focus and significant pressure this time so they should be able to do the job.”

They are the scandals that haunt the NHS. How can they happen time and time again?

Bridget Reeves' grandmother was one of the more than 450 people to die at the hospital in Gosport.

Alongside its report, the panel has published an online archive, external of documentation.

The panel is aware that some documents include personal opinions of individuals and statements about individuals, where those concerned have not had the opportunity to respond to comments or criticism.

In reading the disclosed documents it is important to be sensitive to this situation.

Kate Blackwell QC, who served on the panel, said: "One family member said that in fact for her, this was the beginning.

"Twenty years or so too late but eventually, they were being recognised and the fault of the hospital was being recognised.

She added: "They were confident that today's report is the start of the process that should have taken place a long time ago."

The Rt Rev Jones said there had been "lots of tears" and "grieving" when families were presented with the findings of the report this morning.

He said the report did not explore why the practice of prescribing may have taken place at the hospital.

"Questions about motive are beyond the terms of reference for the panel, but those are questions that will need to be prosecuted."

Bridget Reeves also said this had been an "inexcusable failure" of the patients.

She said: "It is scandalous and immoral. They have grossly failed by abusing people's human rights.

"It is more than catastrophic, this sort of behaviour in our NHS is chilling and precarious."

Bridget Reeves added that during the complaints process "every government body locked together with no chance of impartiality and ultimately the truth."

She said: "They are all clearly desensitised. Our families whose lives ended so inhumanely, the insensitivity of it all."

Miss Reeves said that none of the families of hospital victims would have allowed their loved ones to be admitted had they known about the police investigation.

She added: "The people of Gosport have the right to know."

Bridget Reeves, whose grandmother Elsie Divine, 88, died at the hospital in 1999, said: “This has been sinister, calculated and those implicated must now face the full rigour of the criminal justice system.

“Accountability must take precedent here.

“These horrifying, shameful, unforgivable actions need to be disclosed in a criminal court for a jury to decide and only then can we put our loved ones to rest.”

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has responded to the Gosport Independent Panel Report.

Director of Fitness to Practise, Matthew McClelland, said: "I want to pay tribute to the families who have fought for 20 years to understand what happened to their loved ones at Gosport.

"It’s clear that we and others badly let them down and I am very sorry for the role we have played in that.

"We will now carry out a careful review of the report to see what action we may need to take and what lessons we can learn.

Image source, PA

"What we do know is that our communications with some of the families was unacceptable and for some of those who lost loved ones, we added to their distress.

"While the way we regulate nurses and midwives has changed significantly and improved in recent years, this report is a stark reminder that patients and their families must always be at the heart of what we do."

Families of some of the patients who died due to the use of powerful painkillers have come together outside Portsmouth Cathedral, where the report was revealed today.