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Croydon Health Services NHS Trust launches pioneering app for increased staff engagement

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has rolled out an app from Ryalto designed to improve the working and professional lives of its healthcare staff. Croydon NHS Trust is now offering all of its 3,800 workers access to Ryalto – a platform that enables healthcare professionals to manage their working day and acts as a safe and singular source of communication for all employees. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, was present at the launch, and talked about the positive impact apps can have on the way health care staff manage their working lives.

Matthew Kershaw, interim CEO, Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, said: "The app is reflective of how we live our lives today – on mobiles, with flexibility and in real-time. It offers a key digital channel for us to communicate with each other instantly, through the chat and news feed features, increasing opportunities for engagement and fostering a closer working environment where we work together to provide the best care for our patients. 

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Source: Health Tech Digital

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Crowded A&Es mean Scottish paramedics play the waiting game

Paramedic Moira Shaw is eyeing the frantic activity at the front doors of Edinburgh's emergency department.

She is waiting for the go-ahead to hand over her patients to medics and answer the next 999 call. It can be a long wait.

Last week, 1 in 10 ambulances across Scotland took more than 80 minutes to drop patients at an emergency department.

BBC Scotland joined Moira and colleague Blair Paul at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where they were among seven ambulances waiting to drop off patients.

"At the moment we can be an hour waiting, we sit in the ambulance and we wait until there is a space to go in," explains Moira, who has been with the service for nearly a decade.

"This is pretty much an everyday occurrence now.

"It's that domino effect, so if patients are waiting to move to other areas, A&E gets clogged up and they can't take any more patients in because they are waiting to move people on."

Moira said she has noticed they are attending more calls where people have not been able to get through to their GP so phone 999 instead.

Another theme picked up by Moira and her colleague Blair is helping younger sicker patients who need urgent hospital treatment.

"I've seen actually quite a lot of people maybe in their 40 or 50s who have got now stage four cancer and they've just not been able to get access to any treatments or anything just due to the pressures on the NHS at the moment," explained Blair.

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Source: BBC News, 11 May 2022

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Critically ill patients ‘will inevitably die’ due to junior doctors’ strike

Critically ill patients “will inevitably die” because hospitals are having to cancel surgery as a direct result of next week’s junior doctors’ strike in England, leading heart experts have warned.

There were bound to be fatalities among people with serious heart problems whose precarious health meant they were “a ticking timebomb” and needed surgery as soon as possible, they said. They added that patients would face an even greater risk than usual of being harmed or dying if their time-sensitive operation was delayed because NHS heart units would have too few medics available during the four-day stoppage by junior doctors to run normal operating lists.

The trio of cardiac experts are senior doctors at the Royal Brompton and Harefield specialist heart and lung hospitals in London. Those facilities, plus the cardiac unit at St Thomas’ hospital in the capital, have between them postponed between 30 and 40 operations they were due to conduct next week on “P2” patients, whose fragile health means they need surgery within 28 days.

“It is no exaggeration to say that delaying surgery for this group [P2s] will result in harm. For some, this may be life-changing. For others, it may mean premature death,” said Dr Richard Grocott-Mason, a cardiologist who is also the chief executive of the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals.

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Source: The Guardian, 4 April 2023

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Critical incident ongoing at Nottingham hospitals

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has confirmed a critical incident is ongoing due to "sustained pressures" across the organisation.

NUH, which runs both the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, said its emergency department was especially under strain.

The critical incident was declared just after 16:00 GMT on Tuesday after the trust said there were 24 ambulances waiting outside A&E and "large numbers" of people in the department.

The trust, which is one of the busiest in the country, said there had been issues with the technical roll-out of a new electronic patient record system which had added to the ability to manage the current levels of pressure.

Andrew Hall, chief operating officer at NUH, said: "Our staff are working tirelessly to care for patients, but the pressure on our services is causing very long waits and this is causing overcrowding in our emergency department.

"We know how frustrating this will be to people waiting in the department. Our staff are working as hard as they possibly can to get to them as soon as possible."

"Our aim is to prioritise patients with the highest level of need and ensure that we continue to manage emergency care."

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Source: BBC News, 4 November 2025

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Critical incident declared as cyber attack affects major London hospitals

Major hospitals in London have declared a critical incident after a cyber attack led to operations being cancelled and patients being diverted elsewhere for care.

NHS officials said they were working with the National Cyber Security Centre after the attack on Synnovis, which provides pathology services to large hospitals and GP surgeries in the capital.

The company said the ransomware attack has affected all of its IT systems, which has impacted its pathology services.

Some procedures and operations have been cancelled or have been redirected to other NHS providers as hospital bosses continue to establish what work can be carried out safely.

Synnovis was the victim of a ransomware cyberattack. This has affected all Synnovis IT systems, resulting in interruptions to many of our pathology services.

Mark Dollar, Synnovis chief executive

Health service leaders said there has been a “significant impact” King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ – including the Royal Brompton and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital – and GP services in south-east London.

A memo to staff said the “critical incident” has had a “major impact” on the delivery of services, with blood transfusions particularly affected.

Patients have described last-minute cancellations to operations and blood tests.

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Source: The Independent, 4 June 2024

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Critical incident declared after EPR launch

A hospital trust has declared a critical incident following the launch of its new electronic patient record system.

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH) went live with the Nervecentre EPR over the weekend but “technical issues” with the rollout have resulted in “prolonged periods of downtime”.

In an email sent to staff and seen by HSJ, the trust said it declared a critical incident on Tuesday as it was experiencing a “prolonged period of sustained pressure” due to high demand and acuity, as well as challenges around staffing, flow and discharge.

This was compounded by the issues with the new EPR, which had led to business continuity plans being enacted.

The trust said: “We know how difficult the issues with [the] EPR are making an already challenging situation, and we are sorry for the impact it is having. Our teams are working tirelessly alongside our EPR provider, Nervecentre, to resolve performance issues as quickly as possible.”

However, the trust added that it “will only return to Nervecentre when we have confidence in the ability of the EPR to handle demand”.

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Source: HSJ, 5 November 2025

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Critical care beds shortage prompts calls for review

The NHS's "insufficient" critical care capacity has been laid bare by the pandemic, with the UK having one of the lowest number of beds per head in Europe, NHS Providers has said.

The group, which represents trusts in England, is calling for a review of the health service's capacity.

The UK has 7.3 critical care beds per 100,000 people, compared to Germany's 33.8 and the US's 34.3, analysis found.

The government said it was investing £72bn in the next two years in the NHS. 

"The UK is towards the bottom of the European League table for critical care beds per head of population," NHS Providers said.

The group added that the UK had comparatively fewer critical care beds than France, Italy, Australia and Spain.

"It's neither safe nor sensible to rely on NHS hospital trusts being able to double or triple their capacity at the drop of a hat as they've had to over the last two months, with all the disruption to other care and impossible burdens on staff that involves."

Seeking a review into critical care capacity in England, the organisation said it wanted the government to commit to providing additional finances in areas where it was needed.

"There have been too many reviews of NHS capacity in the past where huge amounts of time have been wasted because the government has not been willing to fund the results of what's been found," the group said.

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Source: BBC News, 1 March 2021

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Crisis in NHS maternity units revealed as 21 rated ‘substandard’

Nearly half of all NHS hospital maternity services covered so far by a national inspection programme have been rated as substandard, the Observer can reveal.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates health and care providers in England, began its maternity inspection programme last August after the Ockenden review into the Shropshire maternity scandal, which saw 300 babies left dead or brain damaged by inadequate NHS care.

Of the services inspected under the programme, which focuses on safety and leadership, about two-thirds have been found to have insufficient staffing, including some services that were rated as good overall. Eleven services saw their rating fall from their previous inspection.

Dr Suzanne Tyler of the Royal College of Midwives said: “Report after report has made a direct connection between staffing levels and safety, yet the midwife shortage is worsening. Midwives are desperately trying to plug the gaps – in England alone we estimate that midwives work around 100,000 extra unpaid hours a week to keep maternity services safe. This is clearly unsustainable and now is the time for the chancellor to put his hand in the Treasury pocket and give maternity services the funding that is so desperately needed.”

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Source: The Guardian, 9 July 2023

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Criminals exploit ‘stigma and embarrassment’ to sell fake erectile dysfunction drugs

Men have been warned against buying illegal erectile dysfunction pills online after nearly 20m pills – enough to fill two doubledecker buses – were seized in the last five years.

The “stigma and embarrassment” of erectile dysfunction is being “exploited by criminals”, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Between 2021 and 2025, the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, working closely with Border Force to intercept shipments, seized about 19.5m doses of erectile dysfunction medicines, equivalent to a single dose for three in every four adult men in the UK. Many of the pills seized contained no active ingredient, the wrong dose, hidden drugs or toxic ingredients, the MHRA said.

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Source: The Guardian, 13 February 2026

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Criminal acts of violence at UK GP surgeries almost double in five years

Criminal acts of violence at GP surgeries across the UK have almost doubled in five years, new figures reveal, as doctors’ leaders warn of a perfect storm of soaring demand and staff shortages.

Police are now recording an average of three violent incidents at general practices every day. Staff are facing unprecedented assaults, abuse and aggression by patients, with surgeries struggling to cope with “unmanageable levels of demand” after years of failure to recruit or retain sufficient numbers of family doctors.

Security measures such as CCTV, panic buttons and screens at reception are now increasingly being rolled out across GP surgeries, the Guardian has learned, with senior medics claiming ministers perpetuate a myth that services are “closed”.

Last night, Britain’s two most senior doctors condemned the wave of violence and called for urgent action to finally resolve the workforce crisis.

“It is unacceptable that GPs and their staff are afraid and at risk of being verbally or physically abused, when they are working amid exceptional pressures and striving to do their best for patients,” said Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association. “GP practices are facing unmanageable levels of demand with 2,000 fewer GPs than in 2015.”

He added it was “no surprise” that patients were struggling to get appointments because of the national “lack of capacity” and “lack of historic investment in general practice”.

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Source: The Guardian, 31 May 2022

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Crime gangs in UK start making own branded weight-loss drugs

Organised crime gangs have begun manufacturing their own branded weight-loss drugs, designed to look like legitimate medicines, in what authorities warn is a significant threat.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the trend had only just emerged, leading them to conduct the largest single seizure of trafficked weight-loss drugs ever recorded by any global law enforcement agency.

Andy Morling, the head of the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, said that in the last few months it had seen a new model of production, “where criminals are putting investment into designing their own packaging and branding … and selling it purporting to be a genuine product”.

He added: “That is an unusual model. [What they seized] looked like genuine medicines, but are entirely unlicensed and illegal to sell in the UK. The most recent model, and the level of investment to do packaging and production facilities to sell on an industrial scale – that is undoubtedly organised crime. That is why we are working to eliminate that model before it takes a grip.”

Morling said a product “that sophisticated … is a significant concern” for his unit.

Morling said that there was a “blurring of line in what is considered medicine and another cosmetic treatment available these days”. He said that most customers thought what they were buying in the syringes was a cosmetic treatment.

Morling added: “Some of the beauty parlours are selling them in this setting not realising that they are selling medicine that could end up giving them a custodial sentence … In both customer and seller there is a lack of awareness.”

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Source: The Guardian, 11 November 2025

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Crackdown on unsafe cosmetic procedures to protect the public

New measures to crack down on cowboy cosmetic procedures that have left people maimed, injured and in need of urgent NHS care will be introduced by the UK Government.  

Only qualified healthcare professionals will be able to perform the highest risk procedures – such as non-surgical Brazilian Butt Lifts. 

Other lower risk cosmetic treatments - including Botox, lip fillers and facial dermal fillers - will also come under stricter oversight through a new local authority licensing system. Practitioners will be required to meet rigorous safety, training, and insurance standards before they can legally operate.  Once regulations are introduced, practitioners who break the rules on the highest risk procedures will be subject to CQC enforcement and financial penalties.

The planned crackdown follows a series of incidents where people have had high-risk treatments from people with little or no medical training, leading to dangerous complications, permanent scarring and even death. These new rules will seek to protect people from unqualified, rogue operators and reduce the cost to the NHS of fixing botched procedures.  This follows growing alarm over unqualified individuals performing invasive treatments in unsafe environments—including homes, hotels, and pop-up clinics. Many of these procedures are marketed as non-surgical but, in reality, are invasive and carry serious risks.  

The new regulations will be subject to public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny before they are introduced.  

Read the full press release.

Source: Department of Health and Social Care, 7 August 2025

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CQC’s infection control concerns at covid deaths trust revealed

A trust which accounted for one in eight of covid deaths in hospital during part of the summer has been criticised by the Care Quality Commission for its infection control.

Staff did not follow social distancing rules in a staff room at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust, did not always practise hand hygiene, and the trust had used incorrect PPE, the CQC said.

In addition, two hourly cleans were not always carried out, soap and hand sanitiser were missing, and the emergency department at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford did not have enough sinks for staff and visitors to wash their hands in. There was also a lack of hand hygiene guidance on display.

Inspectors added that not all staff understood what needed to be done when a walk-in patient presented with covid symptoms, and the emergency department did not have an escalation plan if areas were crowded and patients could not socially distance.

The CQC inspected the William Harvey Hospital on 11 August and took enforcement action after the visit. It has yet to publish the report but the initial feedback was summarised in the trust’s latest board papers, together with the trust’s response. 

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Source: HSJ, 14 September 2020

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CQC’s ICS ratings put on hold

Plans for integrated care systems (ICSs) to be given Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings are on hold, and no ratings will be issued until summer 2024 at the earliest, HSJ  understands. 

The government had previously said ICSs would be given ratings – after pressure from Jeremy Hunt, then Commons health committee chair and now chancellor – and there was an expectation the process would begin next month. 

However, while legislation says the CQC will review and assess ICSs, it does not require it to give ratings. 

HSJ understands the Department of Health and Social Care supports the CQC beginning early work on assessing ICSs shortly, but does not plan to sign off on ratings being issued, nor set any date for that to happen. 

It means that, at the very earliest, more detailed reviews leading to ratings could happen from spring/summer 2024. One source with knowledge of the decision said there was not strong support for ratings work to start, and the CQC still needed to do a lot of work to adapt its approach to ICSs. 

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Source: HSJ, 27 March 2023

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CQC’s ‘ridiculous’ inspections without clinical input

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has been accused of undertaking “ridiculous” inspections without clinical input which have put patients at risk, HSJ can reveal.

Several senior internal figures have raised fundamental safety concerns about the regulator’s inspection of what it deems “low risk practices” without clinical input.

They have accused the CQC of prioritising “quantity over quality” and “providing false assurances” in a move they argued was driven by the need to meet a target of completing 9,000 inspections by September, with primary care expected to deliver 1,200.

Their intervention follows the CQC deciding that surgeries previously rated “outstanding” or “good”, including those which have not been visited in several years, were to be re-inspected without a GP providing clinical input.

The regulator stressed to HSJ that clinical input remained “central to [its] approach” and that “should the need arise, [it] will draw on GP specialist advisers to provide valuable insight for a broader inspection”.

But one senior source warned: “The CQC… are prioritising numbers over patient safety… People will be looking at a rating, and if a practice has a rating of ‘good’, they’re going to think that means good clinical care, but clinical care won’t have been reviewed or assessed.

“A practice that hasn’t been inspected for up to 10 years could have had a whole change of leadership and quality of care delivered… just because they were ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ back then, doesn’t mean to say they are now…. To do inspections without any clinical input is just ridiculous.”

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Source: HSJ, 4 June 2026

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CQC: No evidence that remote GP consultations increase A&E attendance

The increase in the number of remote GP consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic has not appeared to increase A&E attendances, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The regulatory body discussed concerns about access to GP services during its September meeting, including the suggestion that the increase in remote consultations and a perceived lack of face-to-face appointments were potentially leading to ‘increased attendance at A&E’.

However, chief inspector Rosie Benneyworth has confirmed that – having looked into this – the organisation has ‘not seen evidence’ to suggest a link between the two.

Despite this, she noted ‘anecdotal concern’ about people attending A&E departments if they ‘feel their needs are not being met elsewhere’.

GPs have faced media criticism in the past few months for the perception that they have are failing to provide face-to-face appointments, with some believing that patients attend A&E as a result.

Minutes from the September CQC board meeting said: ‘Concerns about access to GP services were… discussed, including the suggestion that digital appointments were not meeting the needs of some patients and how this could potentially lead to increased attendance at A&E. Work to quantify the extent of the problem and to monitor it was underway.’

But Dr Benneyworth told Pulse this week: ‘While there may be some anecdotal concern about people attending Emergency Department (ED) if they feel their needs are not being met elsewhere, we have not seen evidence to suggest a link between digital appointments and ED attendance. The latest figures also show there has not been a sharp rise in online/video appointments (according to NHS Digital they are not currently at pre-COVID-19 levels).

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Source: Pulse, 7 December 2020

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CQC: Fears covid restrictions caused opiate addiction deaths

Problems with dispensing drugs during the COVID-19 crisis may be contributing to an “apparent increase” in deaths of patients receiving treatment for opiate addiction, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said. 

The regulator has said the increase in deaths “may be a result of some services stopping all daily dispensing of opiates” and has taken enforcement action against a “large national provider of substance misuse services” which ”stopped all daily dispensing”.

The provider has not been named by the CQC as it is “entitled to an appeal period,” but the regulator told HSJ the provider had not recorded their risk assessments for their clients in relation to changes in drug dispensing. The CQC said the provider had now “assured us” individualised risk assessments were in place.

The CQC is now reviewing all deaths of people which have been reported by substance misuse services since 1 March due to concerns about the apparent increase and “that some of these deaths may be related to changes in prescribing practices in response to COVID-19”.

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Source: HSJ, 27 May 2020

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CQC warns trust over maternity staffing

The trust with the highest perinatal mortality rates in the country has been told it must improve its midwifery staffing.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust is now reporting weekly to the Care Quality Commission about staffing on its maternity wards after being served a section 29A warning notice, it has emerged.

It followed inspections of its maternity and neonatal services in December and January. The trust, one of the largest in England, has already moved some neonatal care out of one of its hospitals, after issues were raised by the inspection.

It was also told to provide details to the CQC about how its board is informed about unmitigated risks and how its quality review meetings are assured over midwifery staffing, according to information seen by HSJ.

The trust also promised to provide assurance shifts would be filled by qualified and competent staff and that its rota would be compliant with numbers dictated by the Birthrate Plus safer staffing tool. The requirements remain in force until the CQC decides they are no longer needed.

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Source: HSJ, 11 June 2025

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CQC warns Health Bill could leave it fighting itself in court

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned that government plans for it to absorb the national patient safety investigations body could leave it arguing against itself in the High Court.

In evidence to the Commons health and social care committee, the regulator said merging in the Health Services Safety Investigations Branch – which carries out no-blame inquiries under a legally protected “safe space” – would create a “conflict of interest”.

The regulatory arm of the Care Quality Comission could end up seeking access to the confidential investigation reports, while the investigation branch fights to keep them secret, it said.

The CQC outlined “a scenario where the regulatory function would apply to the court for, and the investigatory arm defend against, admissibility of reports in legal proceedings” – in effect putting the watchdog on both sides of the same case.

The government plans to abolish HSSIB and fold its functions into a “discrete” unit of the CQC  – a recommendation made last year by NHS England chair Penny Dash to curb the “cluttered” safety landscape.

The CQC also warned the merger would leave the investigatory arm holding information that the CQC board – although accountable for it – was unaware of and could not act on.

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Source: HSJ, 20 May 2026

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CQC triggers two reviews into whistleblowing concerns

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has commissioned an independent review into handling of a high-profile whistleblower case, and a wider internal review of how it responds when it is given “information of concern”. 

The independent review will be led by Zoë Leventhal KC of Matrix Chambers and will consider how the regulator handled “protected disclosures” from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust surgeon Shyam Kumar, alongside “a sample of other information of concern shared with us”.

Mr Kumar won a tribunal against the CQC earlier this month, which found he was unfairly dismissed as a special advisor on hospital inspections after raising serious patient safety concerns.

Between 2015 and his dismissal in 2019 Mr Kumar wrote to senior colleagues at the CQC with a number of concerns within his trust around bullying, patient harm and the quality of CQC hospital inspections. The tribunal drew particular attention to the two whistleblowing disclosures made by Mr Kumar about the CQC itself, which it found “clearly had a material influence on the decision to dismiss”.

The CQC said in an announcement today that the independent review would aim to determine whether it took “appropriate action” in response to the information disclosed in Mr Kumar’s case and others. It will include consideration of whether the ethnicity of the people raising concerns impacted on decision making or outcome and is expected to conclude by the end of the year.

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Source: HSJ, 28 September 2022

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CQC to scrap ‘generic’ inspector model to fix ‘trust breakdown’

The Care Quality Commission is scrapping its “generic” inspection team model, which is unpopular with trust leaders, as it bids to recover credibility in the wake of a highly critical report on the organisation.

CQC interim CEO Kate Terroni told HSJ the new inspection team model would revert to giving trust CEOs one named inspector to raise concerns to, which has been the case in the past, in a bid to “build back trust”.

During an exclusive interview with HSJ, Ms Terroni also spoke up in support of the CQC’s controversial single-word ratings, which she said the public valued, and said she and her board colleagues must “fully own” past failures.

In a boost for the embattled regulator, Sir Jim Mackey has backed the change to the inspector team, adding the move would be a “helpful first step to rebuilding trust” with NHS leaders.

The CQC will also reverse its unpopular decision to split its inspector and assessor roles and return to having a single inspector completing “end-to-end” assessments.

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Source: HSJ, 27 August 2024

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CQC to restart inspections today

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) will restart inspections from 1 February with a focus on the urgent and emergency care system, the regulator has announced.

In December, CQC postponed inspections of some services to support the acceleration of the vaccination booster programme. They also prioritised activity to help create more capacity in adult social care.

However, considering the current situation – including the easing of restrictions across the country – they have reviewed and updated their regulatory approach. From 1 February the CQC will inspect where:

  • there is evidence that people are at risk of harm. This applies to all health and social care services, including those where inspections were previously postponed except in cases where we had evidence of risk to life
  • CQC can support increasing capacity across the system, particularly in adult social care
  • a focus on the urgent and emergency care system will help us understand the pressures, where local or national support is needed, and share good practice to drive improvement.

Much of their approach is unchanged and remains in line with the update from the Chief Inspectors on 10 December 2021.

This includes:

  • achieving their ambition to complete 1,000 infection prevention and control (IPC) inspections in adult social care
  • rapid response to requests to set up new Designated Settings
  • activity to rate adult social care services that are registered and not yet rated
  • inspections of adult social care providers currently rated as Requires Improvement to identify where improvement has taken place and re-rate where possible.

Alongside their risk-based activity, CQC will undertake ongoing monitoring of services. This helps to identify where CQC may need to take further action to ensure people are receiving safe care and offer support to providers. It also remains important that people share concerns or examples of good practice, CQC said.

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Source: CQC, 27 January 2022

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CQC to ramp up inspections of trusts’ infection control

Trusts’ infection control measures will be put under greater scrutiny by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), HSJ has been told. 

In an effort to cut hospital-acquired COVID-19, the CQC will carry out focused inspections which will assess “in more detail the leadership and delivery of infection prevention control”.

According to NHS England/Improvement figures, around 9% of covid inpatients definitely caught the virus in hospital. However, the number could be higher as NHSE/I figures — released on Friday — showed 21% of COVID-19 patients in hospitals were “probably” acquired in hospitals. 

HSJ understands the CQC plans to carry out up to 20 infection control focused inspections in the early part of 2021. 

The CQC told HSJ it is reviewing local nosocomial infection rates on a weekly basis, using the data alongside “wider intelligence” from other sources to monitor trusts’ risk, with inspections carried out at providers where specific concerns are picked up.

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Source: HSJ, 14 December 2020

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CQC to prosecute acute trust in groundbreaking case

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has launched the first prosecution of an acute trust for failing to meet fundamental standards of care.

East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust faces two charges relating to the death of Harry Richford and the risks posed to his mother during his birth. Both charges are under regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The trust is accused of failing to discharge its duty under regulation 12 in that it failed to provide safe care and treatment exposing Harry and his mother Sarah to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

It is only the fourth prosecution of a trust over the “fundamental standards” which were brought in following the Mid Staffordshire care scandal and are meant to be enforced by the CQC. It is also thought to be the first related to the safety of clinical care.

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Source: HSJ, 9 October 2020

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