The trust that ran Stafford hospital is to face criminal charges relating to the deaths of four patients, including one last year.

The Health and Safety Executive has brought charges against Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation trust over the deaths of four elderly patients between 2005 and May 2014. The allegations relate to health and safety breaches.

The trust was at the centre of one of the biggest scandals to hit the NHS when it emerged that thousands of patients had died unnecessarily at Stafford hospital, now called County hospital.

The trust is due to appear before Stafford magistrates court on 4 November. A new trust began running the hospital last November.

The HSE said the charges related to the deaths of Patrick Daly, 89, who died on 13 May 2014; Edith Bourne, 83, who died on 22 July 2013; Ivy Bunn, 90, who died on 6 November 2008; and Lillian Tucker, 77, who died on 21 October 2005.

The HSE said it had charged the trust following a “thorough and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances of four deaths of patients under its care”.

Wayne Owen, HSE’s principal inspector in the West Midlands, said: “We have concluded our investigation into the death of four patients at Stafford hospital and have decided there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to bring criminal proceedings in this case.”

The trust remains in place as a legal entity but no longer provides patient services. University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS trust took over the running of what was Stafford hospital and Royal Stoke University hospital.

The Mid Staffs special administrator Tim Rideout said the remaining “shell organisation” would oversee any “potential criminal liabilities”. “I am committed to bringing matters to a conclusion as efficiently and effectively as possible in the best interests of the families concerned,” he said.