Is it time for Walsall's Manor Hospital boss to leave?

Dr David Drew, who raised concerns over standards of care and was later sacked from the hospital, said Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust chairman Ben Reid had failed to address problems.

Dr Drew said: "Concerns the Care Quality Commission highlights are a heavy-handed management style, poor leadership, and not taking note of staff concerns.

"These are exactly the issues I was raising with the trust more than five years ago and nothing has changed. Serious questions have to be asked why the chairman has made no impression in this time.

As head of the department at Manor Hospital he acted as a whistleblower in the tragic case of baby Kyle Keen who was shaken to death by his stepfather Tyrone Matthews.

Signs that the child was being abused were not referred to social services after suspicious bruising was detected at a previous admittance to the hospital.

He said that a number of medical staff had told a consultant who had seen Kyle that the case needed to be referred to social services. But it wasn't. Dr Drew said he had no doubt that if Kyle had been referred to social services he would have survived. Matthews was sentenced to six-and-a-half years for manslaughter in 2007.

Kyle was admitted to the Paediatric ward on June 21 2006 where unexplained bruises were noted by nurses. An independent report which was carried out by consultants Cordis Bright and was released revealed there were serious errors of judgement that may have led directly to further injury to Kyle after his admission.

It also found record keeping at the time was poor, inadequate and contained numerous omissions, and the trust did not take appropriate action at the time to investigate thoroughly. The trust said it should have also shared information with natural father Robert Keen who has been seeking answers.

"The last trust board meeting I attended in 2014 left me believing this was a board that could never make things work. There needs to be new blood to deal with the heavy-handed middle managers."

The trust is set to be placed into special measures after it was rated as 'inadequate'. The CQC report published yesterday said bosses had no plan how to recover from its £12 million deficit and there was a heavy-handed approach bordering on a bullying culture from senior management and, in some cases, at board management level. It also said hospital bosses failed to appreciate the level of risk patients were put at.

Calls for Mr Reid, who is chief executive of The Mid Counties Co-operative, to resign have also been backed by Chirs Humpage, whose mother Audrey died aged 70 after being misdiagnosed with cancer.

Mr Humpage said: "I am not surprised it has gone into special measures, but I am surprised to see this sort of action from the CQC.

"I think it is justified having experienced what we did and the number of other cases we have heard of. It is now time for Ben Reid to resign – we as a family found his approach completely inappropriate. Something needs to be done. There are many things going wrong at the hospital. Parts of it are very bad."

Tracey Ankrett, whose son Mark died at the hospital in 2013, repeatedly raised concerns about his care.

She said: "I am relieved it has been put into special measures because it is about time. But I am also angry it has taken this long. A previous report found problems with note taking – something that was a concern I raised with my son.

"Had something been done then, it may have saved a lot of suffering."

Mr Reid said: "The CQC rating affects all of us associated with the trust and our task is now to step up the progress made so far so that the significant changes that are needed happen as quickly as possible."

Mark Ankrett died aged 24 in November 2013 at Walsall Manor Hospital after suffering a bleed to the brain – but his care over six years led his mother Tracey to make two official complaints. She is still waiting for answers.

Mr Ankrett, of Sneyd Lane, Bloxwich, who was diagnosed with epilepsy as a youngster, would regularly suffer seizures which would require hospital treatment.

In 2007, doctors found a five-centimetre growth on his brain. It carried an increased risk of a stroke or haemorrhage.

In November 2013, Mr Ankrett collapsed and was admitted back to Walsall Manor Hospital – just three days after he had received treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after suffering another seizure.

Three hours after being admitted, Mr Ankrett's parents were told he had a massive bleed on his brain and he was being put on life support.

An hour later his family told they would turning off the life support machine.

Mr Ankrett's family are still waiting for the an independent external review into their son's care to start – at the third attempt.

In 2014, chief executive Richard Kirby told Mrs Ankrett: "The care you received did not meet the standards that we would expect."

But a post mortem examination revealed the mother of three, from Warewell Road, Walsall, had a pelvic abscess, which could have been treated, and not the bowel cancer diagnosed.

A coroner found the abscess was a contributory factor toward her death, although the main cause was sepsis. The Health Service Ombudsman has reviewed the case and found that Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust was guilty of numerous failings.

Investigator Tim O'Mahoney could not conclude that Mrs Humpage's death could have been prevented, even if the abscess had been diagnosed, because her health was 'extremely poor' at the time.

Patient safety must be the hospital's first priority and the problems identified in A&E and maternity need to be addressed urgently. It is vital that permanent frontline staff are appointed as there are concerning levels of agency staff."

Ben Gummer, minister for care quality, said: "Whilst the CQC has recognised the Trust for its community services, I am very disappointed that concerns remain on aspects of patient safety."

Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said if improvements were not made it risked being closed. He said: "The health service is in crisis and there is a degree of people needing to help themselves by not going to A&E with small or minor ailment.