A surgeon who first raised fears that patients’ lives were being put at risk at under-fire Tameside General is calling for a full, independent investigation at the hospital.

Milton Pena, an orthopaedic specialist, leaked a dossier of shame to the M.E.N. in 2005 showing that vulnerable elderly and critically-ill patients at the hospital were left unattended for hours because there were not enough staff to look after them.

Mr Pena was disciplined by hospital bosses for speaking out, but now the M.E.N. can reveal he has continued to raise concerns to hospital regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

He claims there are still not enough nurses on the wards to provide basic levels of care and not enough beds to treat patients safely.

Click on the video window to see chief executive Christine Green respond to criticism of the hospital

Last year, Tameside General had a mortality rate 19 per cent above the national average.

Following calls by the M.E.N, a community action group and a Facebook campaign for major changes at the hospital, the CQC and foundation trust regulator Monitor both announced probes into Tameside General.

The M.E.N. understands Mr Pena raised concerns with hospital bosses in October and again in January, which he later shared with the CQC. He says the CQC promised to respond five weeks ago but he has not heard from them.

Mr Pena said: “There have been improvements since 2005 in many aspects of the trust – there has been an expansion of consultant cover and there has been improvements in hygiene, in tackling infectious diseases – but there are still major problems with nursing staffing rotas, temporary wards and lack of beds.

“Of course the death rates are important but they are not the main issue, what really matters is the quality of care.

“I have sent the CQC evidence and asked them to start a wide-ranging investigation. They told me they would tell me their decision by the end of January and I have not yet heard from them.”

A hospital spokeswoman said Mr Pena’s comments were not representative of the majority of the hospital’s consultants and new figures showed death rates at the hospital had reduced dramatically to almost the national average between April and June last year.

Chief executive Christine Green said: "Openness, transparency and accuracy are essential principles of any public sector organisation. None of the issues raised in the programme were new but we know some people have concerns about services here at Tameside Hospital and we want to reassure them that this hospital continues to provide safe and effective patient care.

"We have also had a large number of messages of support from the public and from staff, which is very heartening."

Commenting on Milton Pena’s appearance on Panorama, Dr Tariq Mahmood, Medical Director at Tameside Hospital said: "Milton Pena is a caring and highly passionate consultant. He himself was at pains to point out on Panorama that the views he gave were his own personal opinions. Those views are not shared by the wider consultant body here at Tameside."

A statement from the hospital added: "Within the last week, new figures show the mortality ratio for Tameside Hospital has fallen significantly to 101.1. The ratio has a national average benchmark of 100 and is calculated by comparing the actual number of deaths in a hospital against the expected number.

"Based on these latest figures Tameside Hospital’s predicted annual score would be closer in line with the national average."

Mr Pena featured in a BBC Panorama programme on Monday night looking at the problem of hospitals assessing their own performance.

He tells Panorama: “I have examples recently in my orthopaedic ward where we had one qualified nurse left with 17 patients, many of them elderly and highly dependent.”

He added: “If the patient is on an escalation ward, usually there is no allocated medical staff. Therefore, if there is any deterioration, the medical doctor on duty may not be there immediately. That’s very dangerous.”

Coroner John Pollard branded care at Tameside ‘absolutely despicable’ and ‘chaotic’ after inquests into deaths of four elderly people in one day in 2006, prompting an independent investigation by health bosses.

Mrs Green added: “We are very aware of public concern and want to reassure people that this hospital continues to provide safe and effective patient care. Tameside General routinely opens its doors to external regulatory bodies to carry out inspections, visits and to take a detailed look at its services and governance procedures.”