Thousands may have died because of Labour NHS failings, Tory MPs claim A group of Conservative MPs have demanded that Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, resign ahead of the publication of an official review. He was previously the health secretary until 2010. Official figures released in Parliament claimed that Labour ministers were sent about 1,500 notifications, mostly from patients, about problems at 14 NHS trusts that are now under scrutiny. The publication of a review of high mortality rates at the 14 NHS Trusts, is likely to intensify a political row. Mr Burnham hits back in an article for the Telegraph website and claims the Conservatives must also accept some responsibility. He says that warnings he left when leaving office were not heeded. The row appears to mark an end to a fragile truce over poor hospital care. Following the mid-Staffs scandal, the Prime Minister did not seek to blame Mr Burnham. Up to 13,000 patients may have died avoidably since 2005 at the hospitals involved in today's review. Sir Bruce Keogh, the medical director of the NHS in England, is expected to warn of ongoing difficulties at about 10 of the trusts and hit squads will be sent in to close some services and rectify the problems. Downing Street said that executives should be held accountable and that "entire boards" could be sacked. The Telegraph understands that death rates at nine of the trusts have improved since the Coalition came to power, with the situation deteriorating at five. Experts claim that the death rates at some trusts are worse than at Mid-Staffs, where an inquiry blamed abysmal care for up to 1,300 deaths. Prof Sir Brian Jarman, of Imperial College London, who compiles mortality statistics, said yesterday that he had written to Mr Burnham, then still in office, in March 2010 warning of unusually high death rates at 25 NHS trusts - including seven of those now under investigation. He said: "Effectively nothing happened." 10 Tory MPs have issued an open letter, saying: "It is clear now that the last Labour government oversaw thousands of unnecessary deaths in our NHS Hospitals and failed to expose or confront these care scandals. The patients we represent were betrayed. It would be an outrage if Andy Burnham were ever to return to the role of secretary of state for health. Signatories include Priti Patel, Andrew Percy, Douglas Carswell and Stephen Metcalfe. Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, will insist that his focus is on improving care rather than apportioning blame.