‘Outstanding’ rated trust given CQC warning notice after staff raised alarm
An acute trust currently rated ‘outstanding’ has been served with a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission, after senior doctors’ safety concerns prompted an inspection.
Inspectors visited University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust days after HSJ reported on a letter from consultants highlighting “an extremely unsafe situation” and calling for elective work to be moved away from one of the trust’s main hospitals.
The inspection looked at surgical areas at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, and maternity services at four sites – the RSCH, St Richard’s in Chichester, Worthing Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
In a letter to all staff, seen by HSJ, chief executive Dame Marianne Griffiths said the trust was “striving to improve” but that “the last four months are like nothing I have ever seen before. Like others we are facing unprecedented daily challenges”.
She said: “High patient numbers combined with continuing to work through the pandemic with the stringent infection prevention and control processes that entails make for a challenging work environment.”
Chief nurse Maggie Davies said: “The safety of our patients is always our number one priority. Our services remain under unprecedented pressure and our staff are working hard to provide the highest standards of care to all our patients.
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Source: HSJ, 5 November 2021