Julie Bailey

Julie Dawn Bailey CBE is a cafe owner who was a central figure in the Stafford Hospital scandal.

Julie Bailey in 2014

Biography

Bailey was born in Stafford and moved to Wales in 1983 before moving home to care for her mother, Bella Bailey.[1] Her mother was admitted to Stafford Hospital with an enlarged hernia in September 2007, at the age of 86, and died there on 8 November 2007.

Julie in her cafe in Stafford March 2010

Bailey helped to form an organisation, Cure the NHS, which successfully campaigned for a public inquiry into the failings at the hospital.[2]

She ran a dog grooming parlour and a small cafe, Breaks, on Lichfield Road in the centre of town, which became the headquarters of the campaign. She and her supporters plastered the walls with photographs of dozens of elderly men and women – husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters – who they claimed had died unnecessarily at the hospital because of lack of care.[3]

She was nationally praised for her determination to shine a light on the failings of the Trust. In Stafford, some people have blamed her for a planned downgrade of the town’s hospital. She says she suffered abuse in the streets. However police dropped the investigation into the alleged harassment claim as they could not find sufficient evidence.[4]

In 2012, Bailey authored a book called "From Ward to Whitehall: the Disaster at Mid Staffs Hospital", the story of her fight for the truth to be uncovered about the situation in Mid Staffs Hospital and her struggle to improve it.

Recognition

Bailey was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours.[5][6] She received abuse during and subsequent to her campaign, particularly through the Support Stafford Hospital Facebook page.[7]

On 9 April 2014, Bailey was named as the second most powerful woman in Britain by The Independent newspaper[8] and in the BBC Woman's Hour power list 2014.[9]

On 30 January 2019, Channel 4 announced that they had commissioned a drama of the Stafford Hospital scandal from the perspective of Bailey.[10]

Jeremy Hunt credits her for bringing to attention the cultural defects which meant that health provision became cruel and heartless.[11]

References
  1. "Julie in awards hope". Express and Star. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  2. "Group campaign to improve care". Staffordshire Newsletter. 31 January 2008. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  3. "Staffordshire hospital scandal: the hidden story". Daily Telegraph. 22 March 2009. Archived from the original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  4. "Inquiry into harassment claim by Stafford Hospital protester ends". Express and Star. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  5. "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 7. London Gazette
  6. "Julie Bailey backlash over CBE". Express and Star. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  7. Julie Bailey: NHS campaigner suffers online abuse BBC News. 2 January 2014 Retrieved 10 April 2014
  8. Stafford health campaigner Julie Bailey named as one of the 10 most powerful women in Britain Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Staffordshire Newsletter. 9 April 2014 Retrieved 10 April 2014
  9. "Woman's Hour Power List 2014 – Game Changers". BBC Radio 4.
  10. Channel 4 commissions drama of Stafford Hospital scandal Channel 4 press release
  11. Hunt, Jeremy (2022). Zero. London: Swift Press. p. 94. ISBN 9781800751224.
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