Hospitals which cover up failings could have to foot the bill for compensation claims while new data on staffing levels will be open to public scrutiny, the Health Secretary has said.
Jeremy Hunt set out a raft of measures in response to the inquiry into failings at Stafford Hospital, promising to create a culture of openness and honesty in the NHS.
Under the plans, any hospital that has failed to be open with a patient about serious errors or failings could be forced to pay part or all of a compensation claim rather than the tab being picked up by the whole NHS.
Overall, the Government accepted 281 out of 290 recommendations from the public inquiry, including 57 in principle and 20 in part.
It rejected calls for a statutory duty of candour on individual NHS staff to tell patients or their families if incidents have led to serious harm or death.
Instead, the Government will impose such a duty on organisations as a whole and will strengthen duty of candour on individuals through organisations such as the General Medical Council (GMC).
Professional codes of conduct and other measures will be used to create a "common responsibility" for staff to be honest with patients when mistakes occur, whether serious or not.
Staff will also be told to report "near misses" that could have led to death or serious injury.
The Government has previously announced plans to create a criminal offence of wilful neglect of patients by doctors and nurses.
Yesterday's announcement means patients will be able to see staffing levels on wards via a new safety website.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) will publish guidance on what safe staffing looks like for different wards from August next year.
But the proposals stopped short of introducing a minimum staff-patient ratio on wards or enshrining this in law.