Sir Liam Donaldson wanted NHS to get safety message

Sir Liam Donaldson, the country's Chief Medical Officer, gave evidence at the public inquiry into the failings of Stafford Hospital on Monday.

He told the inquiry that when he took on the job 12 years ago, safety was not a concept in the health service.

Sir Liam said he put photographs of dead children on the desk of Patricia Hewitt, the then Secretary of State for Health.

"I dealt on to her desk pictures of five children the NHS had killed over the last two years due to a series of errors," he said.