By . Tim Shipman . PUBLISHED: . 18:52 EST, 4 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:56 EST, 4 October 2013 . Calls: Tory MPs have demanded Ed Miliband fire Andy Burnham amidst claims he tried to block a report into hospital neglect . Former health secretary Andy Burnham is facing calls to quit after claims he tried to block the publication of a devastating report into hospital neglect before the last election. Tory MPs demanded Ed Miliband fire Mr Burnham as shadow health secretary after the Mail published damning emails which show the health watchdog was asked to stop the release of a report on Basildon and Thurrock hospital in Essex where patients were left to die. Britain’s most powerful civil servant Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood was last night examining whether he needs to set up a Whitehall investigation into whether civil servants breached their code of conduct. Emails released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed that the Department of Health stopped the watchdog Care Quality Commission from releasing the report just hours before it was due to be published in November 2009. The report revealed that death rates in A&E were a third above average while catheters were strewn on the floor and blood was spattered on the walls and curtains. Mr Burnham was ‘furious’ when news of the poor standards of care was leaked, the emails reveal. In a second controversy, the commission was due to publish its ‘state of care report’ into hospitals and care homes in February 2010, three months before the election. Yet an email sent round by a senior CQC boss following a meeting with one of Mr Burnham’s junior ministers instructs them that, ‘given the political environment’, the report should be ‘largely positive’. In July, in a House of Commons debate on hospital scandals,  Mr Burnham rounded on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt after he  was accused of covering up poor care. Mr Burnham said at the time: ‘The Secretary of State claims that we were covering up...it is outrageous for [him] to come to the House and repeat those concerns without a shred of evidence to back them up’. Mr Burnham is now accused of misleading MPs about his role in the affair and is facing calls to make a statement to Parliament next week. Tory MP Stephen Barclay, who obtained the emails, said: ‘Labour tried to cover up failing hospitals before the last general election. Andy Burnham told the House of Commons in July there was no shred of evidence of political interference with the health regulator. ‘But these emails show a clear paper trail of political meddling – leading back to him. ‘He owes a big apology to the patients and families who suffered, and he should resign. No one will ever trust Labour with our hospitals again.’ He added that he had written to Ed Miliband demanding Mr Burnham be sacked. Denial: Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham denied a cover up as recently as three months ago . '[Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt] claims that we were covering  up ... it is outrageous for  him to come  to the House  and repeat those concerns without a shred of evidence to back them up.' As recently as July 16, Andy Burnham insisted the CQC had not been pressured by Labour. Appearing in the Commons he said: ‘The Secretary of State claims that we were covering up, so let me answer on the question of ministers’ integrity... Let me quote to him from a letter sent by [ex CQC chairman] Baroness Young to the Prime Minister yesterday: “CQC was not pressurised by the previous government to tone down its regulatory judgments or to hide quality failures”.’ However, as the Mail reported yesterday, emails show he was ‘furious’ when a report on poor care at Basildon and Thurrock was issued to the media. They also showed his junior minister, Mike O’Brien, warning the CQC close to the election that ‘at this sort of time everything you do is going to be political’. Another message from February 2010, when the CQC was due to publish its ‘state of care report’, said it should be ‘largely positive’. Martin Marshall, the CQC’s director of clinical quality, wrote: ‘It is really important that we get the tone absolutely right.’ Baroness Young has indicated she was forced out of the CQC by political pressure by the last Labour government. Roger Davidson, the former CQC head of media said: ‘The message that “we don’t want bad news” infected the whole organisation. There was no compass.’ Former CQC head of media, Roger Davidson, has previously said the watchdog was told by Labour before the general election that ‘we don’t want bad news’. Baroness Young, the former chairman of the CQC, told the Francis inquiry into deaths at Mid Staffordshire Hospital Trust, under oath, that the CQC was ‘under more pressure...when Andy Burnham became minister’. Professor Sir Brian Jarman, the country’s foremost expert on hospital death rates, has said Labour ran an NHS ‘denial machine’, which ignored issues in the NHS when they were politically inconvenient. After the publication of the emails yesterday, Tory MP Stephen Metcalfe wrote to Sir Jeremy Heywood asking him to investigate whether the civil service code was breached. He wrote: ‘The evidence presented this morning suggests that Andy Burnham, then health secretary, and his team, attempted to manipulate the release of CQC reports for political gain. ‘I am deeply concerned civil servants came under undue political pressure from the front bench Labour team and those associated with them, who were nervous about the proximity of the general election.’ Tweet: Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was 'shocked' by the revelation . Health Secretary Mr Hunt tweeted: ‘Shocking revelations on Andy Burnham’s attempts to cover up failing hospitals.’ He added: ‘What it looks like … is that the last government wanted the NHS to be a good news factory, really, in the run-up to the last election – to the extent that they were prepared to lean on the regulator not to publish a report about poor care at one hospital, and I think that’s wrong. ‘That’s why I announced this week that we will make the CQC, the regulator, completely independent in the way the Bank of England is.’ Mr Burnham demanded an apology from the Tories and threatened to sue Mr Hunt. He claimed he was only ‘furious about the release of the information on the hospital because the leak of the report into Basildon hospital broke Department of Health rules’. In a letter to Mr Hunt he said: ‘The unauthorised briefing by a CQC press officer, which broke the CQC/DH rules, was not agreed with the senior leadership of the CQC. ‘I ordered a press release, in accordance with proper process, be issued later that day. It is impossible to see how you can claim this amounted to a cover-up.’ He asked for evidence ‘to substantiate your assertion. If you fail to provide such evidence, I will require a full retraction and public apology. If that is not forthcoming I will consider further action’. Labour said it had asked Mr Hunt to ‘substantiate his comments or withdraw them’.
Tories demand Andy Burnham be fired for 'blocking' devastating report .
Damning emails show health watchdog was asked to stop release .
It featured Basildon and Thurrock hospital, where patients were left to die .
The report revealed A&E death rates were third above average .
By . Tim Shipman . PUBLISHED: . 18:52 EST, 4 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:56 EST, 4 October 2013 . Calls: Tory MPs have demanded Ed Miliband fire Andy Burnham amidst claims he tried to block a report into hospital neglect . Former health secretary Andy Burnham is facing calls to quit after claims he tried to block the publication of a devastating report into hospital neglect before the last election. Tory MPs demanded Ed Miliband fire Mr Burnham as shadow health secretary after the Mail published damning emails which show the health watchdog was asked to stop the release of a report on Basildon and Thurrock hospital in Essex where patients were left to die. Britain’s most powerful civil servant Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood was last night examining whether he needs to set up a Whitehall investigation into whether civil servants breached their code of conduct. Emails released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed that the Department of Health stopped the watchdog Care Quality Commission from releasing the report just hours before it was due to be published in November 2009. The report revealed that death rates in A&E were a third above average while catheters were strewn on the floor and blood was spattered on the walls and curtains. Mr Burnham was ‘furious’ when news of the poor standards of care was leaked, the emails reveal. In a second controversy, the commission was due to publish its ‘state of care report’ into hospitals and care homes in February 2010, three months before the election. Yet an email sent round by a senior CQC boss following a meeting with one of Mr Burnham’s junior ministers instructs them that, ‘given the political environment’, the report should be ‘largely positive’. In July, in a House of Commons debate on hospital scandals,  Mr Burnham rounded on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt after he  was accused of covering up poor care. Mr Burnham said at the time: ‘The Secretary of State claims that we were covering up...it is outrageous for [him] to come to the House and repeat those concerns without a shred of evidence to back them up’. Mr Burnham is now accused of misleading MPs about his role in the affair and is facing calls to make a statement to Parliament next week. Tory MP Stephen Barclay, who obtained the emails, said: ‘Labour tried to cover up failing hospitals before the last general election. Andy Burnham told the House of Commons in July there was no shred of evidence of political interference with the health regulator. ‘But these emails show a clear paper trail of political meddling – leading back to him. ‘He owes a big apology to the patients and families who suffered, and he should resign. No one will ever trust Labour with our hospitals again.’ He added that he had written to Ed Miliband demanding Mr Burnham be sacked. Denial: Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham denied a cover up as recently as three months ago . '[Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt] claims that we were covering  up ... it is outrageous for  him to come  to the House  and repeat those concerns without a shred of evidence to back them up.' As recently as July 16, Andy Burnham insisted the CQC had not been pressured by Labour. Appearing in the Commons he said: ‘The Secretary of State claims that we were covering up, so let me answer on the question of ministers’ integrity... Let me quote to him from a letter sent by [ex CQC chairman] Baroness Young to the Prime Minister yesterday: “CQC was not pressurised by the previous government to tone down its regulatory judgments or to hide quality failures”.’ However, as the Mail reported yesterday, emails show he was ‘furious’ when a report on poor care at Basildon and Thurrock was issued to the media. They also showed his junior minister, Mike O’Brien, warning the CQC close to the election that ‘at this sort of time everything you do is going to be political’. Another message from February 2010, when the CQC was due to publish its ‘state of care report’, said it should be ‘largely positive’. Martin Marshall, the CQC’s director of clinical quality, wrote: ‘It is really important that we get the tone absolutely right.’ Baroness Young has indicated she was forced out of the CQC by political pressure by the last Labour government. Roger Davidson, the former CQC head of media said: ‘The message that “we don’t want bad news” infected the whole organisation. There was no compass.’ Former CQC head of media, Roger Davidson, has previously said the watchdog was told by Labour before the general election that ‘we don’t want bad news’. Baroness Young, the former chairman of the CQC, told the Francis inquiry into deaths at Mid Staffordshire Hospital Trust, under oath, that the CQC was ‘under more pressure...when Andy Burnham became minister’. Professor Sir Brian Jarman, the country’s foremost expert on hospital death rates, has said Labour ran an NHS ‘denial machine’, which ignored issues in the NHS when they were politically inconvenient. After the publication of the emails yesterday, Tory MP Stephen Metcalfe wrote to Sir Jeremy Heywood asking him to investigate whether the civil service code was breached. He wrote: ‘The evidence presented this morning suggests that Andy Burnham, then health secretary, and his team, attempted to manipulate the release of CQC reports for political gain. ‘I am deeply concerned civil servants came under undue political pressure from the front bench Labour team and those associated with them, who were nervous about the proximity of the general election.’ Tweet: Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was 'shocked' by the revelation . Health Secretary Mr Hunt tweeted: ‘Shocking revelations on Andy Burnham’s attempts to cover up failing hospitals.’ He added: ‘What it looks like … is that the last government wanted the NHS to be a good news factory, really, in the run-up to the last election – to the extent that they were prepared to lean on the regulator not to publish a report about poor care at one hospital, and I think that’s wrong. ‘That’s why I announced this week that we will make the CQC, the regulator, completely independent in the way the Bank of England is.’ Mr Burnham demanded an apology from the Tories and threatened to sue Mr Hunt. He claimed he was only ‘furious about the release of the information on the hospital because the leak of the report into Basildon hospital broke Department of Health rules’. In a letter to Mr Hunt he said: ‘The unauthorised briefing by a CQC press officer, which broke the CQC/DH rules, was not agreed with the senior leadership of the CQC. ‘I ordered a press release, in accordance with proper process, be issued later that day. It is impossible to see how you can claim this amounted to a cover-up.’ He asked for evidence ‘to substantiate your assertion. If you fail to provide such evidence, I will require a full retraction and public apology. If that is not forthcoming I will consider further action’. Labour said it had asked Mr Hunt to ‘substantiate his comments or withdraw them’.
emails which show the health watchdog was asked to stop the release of a report on Basildon and Thurrock hospital in Essex where patients were left to die. Britain’s most powerful civil to be published in November 2009. The report revealed that death rates in A&E were a third above average while catheters were strewn on the Andy Burnham, then health secretary, and his