Previous failings in infection control at Maidstone Hospital have been highlighted in a critical report by MPS.

The House of Commons Health Select Committee report, published Friday, says NHS Trusts too often prioritise government targets over patients' care.

The report considered cases where patient safety had been put at risk through "disastrously unsafe care" in a handful of NHS Trusts.

That included infection control scandals at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust, which hit the headlines this year.

Hospitals in Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hit the headlines in October 2007 when failings in infection control procedures could have contributed to 90 deaths over a two-year period.

The report said: "The failing trusts, like Mid-Staffordshire and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, clearly thought the government was telling them that patient safety was a second-order priority.

"The failure of the systems for commissioning, performance management and regulation to detect in a timely fashion the failings of these trusts’ managers and boards must at least in part be laid at the door of the government, which is responsible for those systems."

The committee recommends the NHS develops a culture of openness and "fair blame" and encourage staff to make and act on suggestions to improve patient safety.