An exclusive investigation by a regional daily has exposed huge failings in England’s biggest health trust.

The Manchester Evening News’s special report has revealed a string of long-term failures at Pennine Acute NHS Trust, which runs four hospitals on its patch, leading one MP to call for a full inquiry.

Ahead of the publication of a report by government inspectors, due at the end of this week, the MEN has told of a staffing crisis so severe at North Manchester General Hospital that ambulances are set to be diverted elsewhere at night and a third of the Trust’s children’s beds being shut after inspectors warned of unsafe nursing levels, among other issues.

The exclusive was broken online yesterday with nine pages of coverage in today’s print edition, pictured below.

MEN social affairs editor Jennifer Williams led the investigation and delivered a piece to camera as part of the online coverage.

One Manchester MP, Graham Stronger, is demanding a full inquiry into problems at the Trust as a result of the report.

Editor Rob Irvine said: “The problems the Manchester Evening News has exposed across a wide range of health services are a cause for huge concern.

“The superb investigative work done by MEN social affairs editor Jennifer Williams has put this crisis firmly into the public’s consciousness.

“Today’s coverage is just the beginning of a process during which we will hold NHS leaders to account and ensure people get the standard of health care they are entitled to.”