From Dr Angela B. Summerfield

Sir, — The recent media revelations about the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust have included little reference to moral issues.

You do not need a health-care qualification to be shocked and, more importantly, to act, when faced with patients drinking water from ward vases or lying for hours in pain and squalor — just a conscience. “Only obeying orders” went out at Nuremberg. Let us hope that it has not crept back in as “Only obeying NHS targets”.

It is now critical that the hospital chaplaincy service receives vigorous support. Chaplains not only care for patients: they are able to offer a framework for thinking about events such as those at Stafford Hospital, and the courage to speak out in public if necessary.

ANGELA SUMMERFIELD
Rose Bank
Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe
Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 2PR