Jeremy Hunt: Nursing union has questions to answer over Mid Staffs However, Andrea Spyropoulos, the president of the RCN, has described those plans as a "stupid idea" which will "take nursing back a hundred years." Peter Carter, general secretary of the RCN, said it was "bizarre" that the Government had focused on a plan which was not included among the report's 290 official recommendations, many of which have not yet been implemented. A furious Mr Hunt said he had in fact "plucked it out of the Francis report on Mid Staffs." He went on to say that the union had "very serious" questions to answer over its conduct as the Mid Staffs scandal developed. He added: "Let me say this, I think the Royal College of Nursing have got to be very, very careful. They missed what happened at Mid Staffs. The Francis report levelled some very serious criticisms about it. It said that they basically allowed their trade union responsibilities to trump their responsibilities as a royal college to raise professional standards and that they have a conflict of interest. I think that before they start criticising the Government for accepting recommendations that are going to improve compassionate care throughout the NHS, they need to answer those very, very serious criticisms themselves. Julie Bailey, founder of the Cure the NHS campaign, whose mother Bella died at Stafford hospital, earlier this year called for Dr Carted to step down over the scandal because the union had told a whistleblowing nurse there to "keep her head down." Dr Carter in February said that calls for him to step down were "unfortunate and unfounded."