BBC News
The way hospitals are regulated should be urgently reformed after a report found a catalogue of failings at two hospitals in Essex, a charity has said.
The Patients Association said people had been "appallingly" let down.
The independent regulator highlighted an unusually high death rate and poor hygiene, including blood-spattered kit.
Basildon and Thurrock NHS trust said concerns were not indicative of wider problems, but a taskforce has been sent in to force through improvements.
The Patients Association said the failings were not isolated cases and patients had suffered a lack of monitoring, lack of help with feeding and a lack of dignity.
'Not complacent' Director Katherine Murphy said: "How many times do the public need to keep hearing about this before the government is embarrassed enough to do something about it?
"The evidence was there but not acted on. That is completely unacceptable. The system of regulation and supervision needs to be urgently reformed."
The trust, which has two hospitals serving about 300,000 people, said it was "not complacent".
" Our work has uncovered serious failings "
Cynthia Bower Care Quality Commission
Most inpatient care is provided at Basildon University Hospital, which has 777 beds, and outpatient care at Orsett hospital in Grays.
Trust chairman Michael Large said: "It is an extremely serious matter and we do not seek to underestimate its gravity.
"I want to reassure our local community that the safety and well-being of our patients is our highest priority."
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the trust as "good" overall in October. But a new report from an unannounced inspection team carried out by the CQC found evidence of sub-standard care.
The inspectors saw:
-Floors and curtains stained with blood
· -Blood-splattered on trays used to carry equipment
· -Badly soiled mattresses in the A&E department with stains soaked through to the foam filling
· -Items that should only be used once still in use
· -Equipment in the resuscitation room that was past the use-by date
· -A children's blood pressure cuff heavily stained with blood
· -Suction machines contaminated with fluid inside and out with what looked like mould growing on the equipment
The inspectors criticised a poor care environment in A&E, in particular a lack of privacy for patients.
They also highlighted inadequate arrangements to treat children, with few specialist pediatric staff.
The CQC has asked the regulator of foundation trusts, Monitor, to take action.
An expert taskforce will be sent into the trust with a remit to drive rapid improvements in patient care.
Monitor chairman Dr William Moyes said: "We will be reviewing the trust's performance regularly and in detail - if we don't see measurable results quickly, we'll take further action."
Death rates
The independent hospital analysis website Dr Foster has found the Essex trust to have a hospital standardised mortality ratio of 136.
This means the rate of death among patients at the trust is a third higher than would be expected by looking at national figures, after adjusting for patients' age and the severity of their illness.
This is likely to prompt comparisons with Stafford Hospital where similar concerns were raised about a higher than expected mortality rate.
After internal investigations at Stafford failed to find a problem, an independent inspection found serious failings in emergency care.
