The Health and Safety Executive was reluctant to prosecute over a patient’s death at Stafford Hospital because it did not have the resources to cope with more families coming forward, the public inquiry into Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has been told.

The HSE was called in by police investigating the death of 66 year old diabetic Gillian Astbury in 2007.

A jury inquest into Ms Astbury’s death had previously found the failure of nursing staff to read clinical notes and administer insulin had contributed to her death. It ruled she died as a result of “shortcomings” in management and staffing levels.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence for a conviction for manslaughter by gross negligence. But Ms Astbury’s partner Ron Street told the inquiry he had met with Clive Brooks, the HSE’s principal inspector of factories, to discuss prosecution in relation to her death.

Mr Street said: “He… informed me that Gillian’s case represented possibly one of the most difficult prosecution decisions that he’d faced in his career, because if a successful prosecution was mounted in Gill’s case, the HSE was under-resourced [to] cope with the anticipated demands from other families which might ensue.”

He also showed the inquiry panel internal HSE emails obtained using Freedom of Information legislation that revealed “DH ministers were relieved that HSE/police” were not investigating the trust.

The email explained the HSE had been “compelled” to conduct preliminary inquiries at Stoke Mandeville and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals as the Healthcare Commission reports “used such emotive language”.

However, they noted the Healthcare Commission had not involved the police or HSE in their Mid Staffs investigation, the report into which used “milder” language.

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