Officials were forced to step in to stop patients from being harmed at hospital trusts investigated over high mortality rates, it has emerged.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said 11 of the trusts investigated by Sir Bruce Keogh, including East Lancashire, would be put into ‘special measures’ for ‘fundamental breaches of care’ and external experts will be sent in to help improve patient care.

He admitted that thousands more patients may have died than would be expected at the 14 trusts involved in the report.

The review team said they identified issues that had to be ‘tackled immediately to avoid causing harm to patients’.

They identified a series of failings including staff pushed to breaking point, inadequate numbers of staff and safety checks not being carried out.

They said they witnessed a ‘lack of compassion’ among staff so busy they were unable to deliver compassionate care to patients.

One of the review team described holding the hand of a patient because nurses were stretched so thin they were unable to do so.

Mr Hunt told MPs: “No statistics are perfect but mortality rates suggest that since 2005 thousands more people may have died that would normally be expected at the 14 trusts reviewed.”

Mr Hunt claimed Labour was more concerned about its own reputation than exposing failings in the NHS when it was in government.

But former health secretary Andy Burnham hit back, accusing Mr Hunt of ‘playing politics with people's lives’ by trying to blame Labour for the findings.