Video: Cure the NHS 'pleased' that medics could face jail for neglect The wilful neglect of patients is to be made a criminal offence under NHS reforms being introduced in the wake of the Mid Staffs and other care scandals. The offence will be modelled on laws against the wilful neglect of adults under the Mental Capacity Act, punishable by fines or up to five years in prison. A consultation on what scale of sentence should be applied to the extended law will be carried out over the next few months by the Department of Health. The move was one of the central recommendations of a review of patient safety commissioned by ministers in the wake of findings that there were up to 1,200 excess deaths at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. It was led by Professor Don Berwick, a former adviser to US president Barack Obama, who said it was needed to targets the worst cases of a "couldn't care less" attitude that led to "wilful or reckless neglect or mistreatment."