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CQC to inspect hospitals on food standards after patient deaths

Hospital food standards are set to be put on a statutory footing, with trusts held to account by the Care Quality Commission, according to the chair of a government-commissioned review.

Philip Shelley, who led the review into hospital food following seven patient deaths from listeria last year, told HSJ the incident was an “absolute condemnation” and that trusts must use the review to improve food standards.

The review, published last month, also calls for capital investment to refurbish hospital kitchens and replace old and inefficient equipment, which is likely to cost several hundreds of millions of pounds.

The government has accepted the recommendations and Mr Shelley will lead a group of experts to oversee the review’s implementation across the NHS during the next three years.

Among the review’s recommendations is the “enhanced role” for the CQC when it inspects NHS trusts.

The review states there is currently “very little evidence to prove that food and drink standards are being monitored closely enough” and it therefore recommends placing the standards on a statutory footing from which the CQC can hold trusts to account.

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Source: HSJ, 17 November 2020

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CQC to focus on services where there is a ‘greater risk of a poor culture going undetected’

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed a new strategy that will place more emphasis on a patient’s experience of care and seek to get a better grip on ”care settings where there’s a greater risk of a poor culture going undetected”.

Ian Trenholm, chief executive of the CQC told HSJ the CQC’s new approach would be informed by the belief that ”people’s experience of care is driven as much from the way different providers will interact with each other – both public sector, private sector, third sector - in a place as much as it by the individual performance of individual providers.”

He repeated his pledge, made to HSJ in August, that the CQC would endeavour to make inspections less time consuming for providers.

An important part of the CQC’s increased focus on patients’ experience of care would be taking more effort to determine the quality of services whose users may have trouble expressing their views, said Mr Trenholm.

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Source: HSJ, 27 May 2021

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CQC to expand inspection programme from April

More Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections will take place from next month as pressures from COVID-19 continue to ease.

Board papers published ahead of a meeting on Wednesday have revealed the CQC will return to inspecting and rating NHS trusts and independent healthcare services which are rated “inadequate” or “requires improvement”, alongside those where new risks have come to light. 

From April, the CQC also plans to carry out well-led inspections of NHS and private mental healthcare providers, and programmes of focused inspections on the safety of maternity departments and providers’ infection prevention processes. Focused inspections into emergency departments, which the CQC began in February, will continue.

Inspections into GP services rated “requires improvement” and “inadequate” will also resume in April, focusing on safety, effectiveness and leadership.

Finally, the papers said the watchdog would prioritise inspections of “high-risk” independent healthcare services, such as ambulances, cosmetic surgery or where closed cultures may exist. 

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Source: HSJ, 24 March 2021

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CQC to assess equality issues arising from Covid under new human rights agreement

The CQC will consider equality and human rights policy issues that have arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic under an agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

In a statement published on the new memorandum of understanding (MoU), the CQC and the EHRC confirmed they will work together on five ‘key areas of focus’.

These also include looking at how leadership can reduce inequalities in patients’ access to – and outcomes from care – in local areas, and ‘collaborating for better leadership on equality for staff working in the NHS and social care’, the regulator said.

In a separate blog on the agreement, Ted Baker, CQC’s chief inspector for hospitals, said: ‘We will continue to work together to respond to the equality and human rights issues that have arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the EHRC contributing to our work on use of DNACPR and CQC supporting the dissemination of key findings relating to health and social care from EHRC key reports and briefings.’

The memorandum, which applies to all providers regulated by the CQC, also outlines how both organisations will share information on human rights issues.

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Source: Management in Practice, 15 March 2021

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CQC threatens to suspend licence of ‘large scale’ GP provider

A major GP group in Plymouth covering tens of thousands of patients could have its licence removed after failing to make ‘substantial improvements’ ordered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In August, the CQC rated the Mayflower Medical Group “inadequate” and last month the regulator said it had served a “letter of intent” on the group after another inspection. Such a letter is the last step the CQC takes before a provider’s licence is suspended.

Licence suspension would affect around 40,000 people (a sixth of Plymouth’s population), who live in one of the highest areas of deprivation in the country – according to Public Health England (now the UK Health Security Agency).

Among the CQC’s concerns were safety fears about the way medicines were prescribed, poor management of high-risk patients, coding issues, limited monitoring of the outcomes of care and treatment, and patients experiencing difficulties accessing care and treatment.

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Source: HSJ, 2 December 2021

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CQC tells trust to move care of sick babies

A trust has moved the care of some sick babies out of one of its neonatal units at the Care Quality Commission’s request.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said babies requiring more than 24 hours of neonatal intensive or high dependency care would now be moved from St James’ University Hospital to the Leeds General Infirmary, which has a neonatal intensive care unit, or alternative hospitals.

The trust confirmed this followed a request from the Care Quality Commission, which carried out unannounced inspections of its maternity and neonatal services in December and January.

Previously St James’ had been providing “less complex elements of intensive care and high dependency care”, despite only having a “special care baby unit” (SCBU), which typically provides care for less seriously ill babies than a NICU.

This unusual position had been agreed with the Yorkshire and Humber neonatal operational delivery unit. The trust said its neonatal doctors and nurses worked across the units in both hospitals, and were qualified and trained to treat babies requiring the highest level of care.

The trust’s maternity services have recently been criticised by a group of parents, and HSJ last week highlighted how they have been rated “red” for high perinatal mortality in the national maternity services audit four times in the past seven years.

Chief nurse Rabina Tindale said: “Individuals are still able to give birth at St James’ Hospital and babies will receive the appropriate level of care in our SCBU, but this [change] does mean that if babies need more than 24 hours of intensive care or high dependency care, they must be transferred to Leeds General Infirmary or another unit.”

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Source: HSJ, 1 April 2025

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CQC tells provider to inform police of staff assault on patient

Allegations of staff assaulting patients at a mental health hospital have been uncovered for a second time, one year after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) first raised concerns over potential abuse at the unit. 

The regulator criticised Broomhill Hospital in Northampton in a report issued this week after inspectors found details of three alleged assaults by staff against patients. The unit is run by independent sector provider St Matthew’s Healthcare, but treats NHS patients.

In May 2020, the CQC placed the hospital into special measures amid concerns it was failing to protect patients against abuse. Patients had raised concerns to inspectors over poor staff attitudes and made allegations that two had physically assaulted patients. 

A second inspection this year was triggered by further whistleblowing concerns from patients and staff.

Following the most recent inspection, which took place this February, the CQC has again raised warnings about staff allegedly assaulting patients. The staff members involved in all three incidents were dismissed and the CQC has asked the provider to inform the police of one incident.

According to the report: “Staff had not always treated patients with compassion and kindness… [or] been discreet, respectful, and responsive when caring for patients. Two patients told us that their experience in the hospital was ‘terrible’. Two different patients told us that they had observed staff shout at patients. Another patient described Broomhill as ‘the worst hospital they had been in’, adding that they were not happy with the care provided.”

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Source: HSJ, 22 April 2021

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CQC taking ‘enforcement action’ against every fourth service it inspects

A quarter of services the Care Quality Commission has recently inspected required enforcement action from the regulator, its chief executive has revealed. 

Speaking at the launch of the regulator’s annual State of Care report, Ian Trenholm called for a “long-term, sustainable funding solution” from the government to aid a service that was ”genuinely struggling to cope”.

Mr Trenholm said “about a quarter of the services” the CQC has inspected in 2022 had resulted in it having to take “enforcement action”.

Examples of action taken against NHS trusts in the last year included enforcement measures placed on Nottingham University Hospitals, University Hospitals Sussex, and Princess Alexandra Hospital.

In response to a question from HSJ about the robustness of the CQC’s inspection regime following further care quality and safety scandals, Mr Trenholm said observers should not focus solely on the ratings given to trusts by the CQC as there was a lot ”work going on in the background, whether that’s enforcement or otherwise”.

He added the CQC had significantly increased the amount of information it was gathering in relation to concerns about services.

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Source: HSJ, 21 October 2022

 

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CQC suspends routine inspections amid covid-19 outbreak

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has suspended its routine inspections due to the coronavirus outbreak following pressure from system leaders and NHS bosses.

The decision to suspend inspections where there are no immediate safety concerns is understood to have been taken by the CQC’s executive team this morning, senior sources told HSJ. Both the NHS Confederation and The Royal College of GPs said the decision had been made.

NHS Confederation called the move a “sigh of relief” for front-line staff, while the RCGPs said it would enable GPs to dedicate their time to providing care. 

NHS Confederation chief executive Niall Dickson said: “Front-line staff will breathe a sigh of relief that CQC has responded to our concerns and will now postpone its inspections where there is no immediate safety concern so that they can gear themselves up to prepare for the huge task ahead in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.”

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Source: HSJ, 16 March 2020

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CQC survey shows NHS improvement despite problematic wait times

A national survey, published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), shows most people experience good urgent and emergency care, but waiting times are still a problem.

More than 50,000 people, who received urgent and emergency care, took part in a CQC survey covering 132 NHS trusts across England. Findings show that the majority of their experiences were positive relating to their care and treatment but a significant number reported long waits, particularly in A&E.

The survey, which ran between Oct and Mar 2019, reveals responses from patients who experienced either a major consultant-led A&E department (Type 1) or an urgent care or minor injury unit (Type 3) run directly by an acute hospital trust. 75% of people who attended a Type 1 department reported ‘definitely’ having enough time to discuss their condition with the doctor or nurse. This has risen from 73% who said the same in 2016, the last time the survey was carried out. A similar number (76%) said that they ‘definitely’ had confidence and trust in the staff treating them, up from 76% in 2016.

Another improvement showed that 79% of participants were treated with respect and dignity ‘all of the time’, up from 78% in 2016.

Professor Ted Baker, CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said:

“I’m pleased to see that the majority of people surveyed continue to report positively about their experience. This is despite the pressures that urgent and emergency care services are under and is a testament to the dedication and hard work of hospital staff across the country.

“However, it is disappointing that in some areas people’s experience continues to fall short. We cannot ignore the increasing impact of lengthy waiting times particularly for those patients attending A&E departments. Patients who are seriously ill and need urgent care should be consistently identified in a timely way, so it is concerning that such a low proportion say they waited 15 minutes or less for an assessment.

Read full CQC report

Source: CQC, 23 October 2019

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CQC steps in at troubled trust over covid infections

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has taken immediate enforcement action at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust citing “serious concerns” over patient safety.

The regulator confirmed it was taking action today after inspectors visited on 12 August following concerns being raised about the standard of care and risk to patients.

The CQC confirmed the action had been taken, but it said it could not comment further due to legal restrictions and the trust’s right to appeal the decision.

HSJ understands the enforcement action was taken due to concerns over infection prevention control and the number of patients who have contracted COVID-19 in hospital. It is believed to be the first such action against a trust.

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Source: HSJ, 27 August 2020

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CQC sorry for failing to act on ‘note tampering’ concerns

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has apologised after admitting it failed to act on whistleblowing concerns “in a timely manner”.

Allegations had been made to the CQC about staff at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust tampering with a patient’s record after they had died by suicide.

As previously reported, the accusations by whistleblower Des McVey have sparked a review of the trust’s conduct in more than 60 suicide cases.

Mr McVey says the trust only took action following media coverage and that the CQC had ignored his concerns.

The regulator has now upheld a complaint from him, with operations manager James DeCothi writing to Mr McVey: “I have established that [the relevant CQC inspector] did not share your concerns with the provider in a timely manner and that our contact with you from July 2022 to June 2023 was inconsistent. I apologise on behalf of CQC for this. [The CQC inspector] has reflected on this and has asked me to offer her apologies to you also.

“I can confirm that CQC have followed up the areas of concern that you have shared, and we will continue to use the information you have shared to inform future regulatory activity. I would like to thank you again for sharing this information with us.”

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Source: HSJ, 11 December 2023

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CQC should not ‘sit in an ivory tower’ when rating ICSs, says preferred chair

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) should not ‘sit in an ivory tower and dream up what it thinks good looks like’ when it starts rating integrated care systems, the proposed new chair for the regulator has told MPs.

Ian Dilks, the government’s preferred candidate to become the CQC’s new chair, was questioned by the health and social care committee on Tuesday. During the session the committee chair’s Jeremy Hunt asked how Mr Dilks would make the rating of systems “a success”.

Mr Hunt said: “We became the first healthcare system in the world to ‘Ofsted rate’ our hospitals. Under your leadership, assuming you take up this role, we will become the first healthcare system in the world to do the same for entire geographical regions of health systems.”

Mr Dilks responded: “I don’t think it is up to the CQC to sit in an ivory tower and dream up what it thinks good looks like.”

“It will not be in anybody’s interest if the CQC comes up with a whole bunch of ratings and ICSs say, ‘well I don’t know how you got there’.” He added: “I think involving all parties in the development process so that what emerges has a high degree of acceptance.”

He was also asked at the session about what he had learnt about improving patient safety while working at NHS Resolution.

Mr Dilks said: “I do not think the system is good at learning… it needs some help and encouragement to firstly really understand what’s gone wrong when you have an outcome that isn’t the correct one, and secondly how do you encourage and support the system to do better the next time around.”

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Source: HSJ, 23 February 2022

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CQC reveals some patients have spent a decade in seclusion

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has called for ‘ministerial ownership’ to end the ‘inhumane’ care of patients with learning difficulties and autism in hospital – after finding some cases where people had been held in long-term segregation for more than 10 years.

Following its second review into the uses of restraint and segregation on people with a learning difficulty, autism and mental health problems, the CQC has warned it “cannot be confident that their human rights are upheld, let alone be confident that they are supported to live fulfilling lives”.

The review was ordered by health and social care secretary Matt Hancock in late 2018 in response to mounting concerns about the quality of care in these areas.

According to the report, published today, inspectors found examples people being in long-term segregation for at least 13 years, and in hospital for up to 25 years. It also found evidence showing the proportion of children from a black or black British background subjected to prolonged seclusion on child and adolescent mental health wards was almost four times that of other ethnicities.

Looking at care received in hospital the CQC found many care plans were “generic” and “meaningless” and patients did not have access to any therapeutic care.

Reviewers also found people’s physical healthcare needs were overlooked. One women was left in pain for several months due to her provider failing to get medical treatment.

The regulator also reviewed the use of restrictive practices within community settings. While it found higher quality care, and the use of restrictive practices was less common, it said there was no national reporting system for this sector.

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Source: HSJ, 22 October 2020

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CQC quietly scraps ‘overall’ ratings for trusts

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is no longer giving “overall” ratings to trusts, it has emerged – instead only issuing a leadership rating at organisational level.

The new system was introduced last year, alongside other changes to the Care Quality Commission’s assessment framework, and so far has only been applied to a handful of trusts. Eventually, it is due to be applied to all trusts, and none will have an “overall” rating.

The CQC webpages for these trusts now state: “Our assessments of NHS trusts now focus on leadership. We no longer rate trusts overall for their safety, effectiveness and responsiveness or how caring they are. We do still publish those ratings for the services they provide.”

The providers are also expected to display the “well-led” overall rating on their website.

Previously, trusts were rated for all five domains (well-led, safety, effectiveness, caring, and responsive) at the trust level, and given an “overall” rating based on these.

Over the past decade, the trust-level “overall” rating has been used in the health system as a significant barometer of organisational success.

However, there has been an ongoing debate about the use of the single word/phrase ratings, ranging from “inadequate” to “outstanding”.

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Source: HSJ, 27 June 2025

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CQC publish a report on Stoke Mandeville Hospital’s children’s emergency department

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report on Stoke Mandeville Hospital, part of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust following a recent inspection in June.

CQC carried out a focused inspection of the trusts children’s emergency department in response to concerns raised about the safety and quality of the service. Inspectors found children and young people received safe care. However, the trust needs to review its systems to make sure potential serious incidents are managed in a way that allows any lessons learned to be shared, to reduce the risk of them happening again.

Link to the full report  (opens in a new browser window)

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CQC prosecutes troubled provider over death of teenage girl

A struggling mental health trust is being prosecuted over accusations it failed to protect a teenager at a children’s inpatient unit.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation Trust ran the former West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough until the Care Quality Commission (CQC) closed it in 2019. 

The CQC is now prosecuting the trust, alleging it breached the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in relation to the death of Christie Harnett, who took her own life at the facility in June 2019.

In a statement, the regulator claimed TEWV “failed to provide safe care and treatment” by exposing the patient to a “significant risk of avoidable harm”.

A CQC spokeswoman added: “Our main priority is always the safety of people using health and social care services, and if we have concerns we will not hesitate to take action in line with our regulatory powers. We will report further as soon as we are able to do so.”

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Source: HSJ, 30 June 2022

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CQC prosecutes hospital over ‘avoidable harm’

The Care Quality Commission is prosecuting a large hospital trust for an alleged failure to provide safe care and treatment resulting in “avoidable harm”. 

The regulator today said it was launching the prosecution against University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust, with a hearing due to take place at Brighton Magistrates Court on Monday.

It said it was bringing the action under regulations 12 (1) and 22 (2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, which relates to a provider’s responsibility to ensure people receive safe care and treatment, and making it a criminal offence where a breach results in avoidable harm or where a person has been exposed to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

The prosecution relates to a young person who was able to abscond from an acute children’s inpatient ward at Worthing Hospital in 2022.

UHSFT has been under intense scrutiny over recent years and is one of the 12 trusts subject to a government-commissioned investigation into maternity service quality. An independent review also recently uncovered claims of misogyny and sexual harassment reported by female staff members.

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Source: HSJ, 22 October 2025

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CQC probes bullying allegations at national NHS agency

Bullying and harassment allegations made against leaders of the organisation that supplies blood to the NHS have prompted a Care Quality Commission (CQC) review, with staff claiming poor culture has exacerbated the crisis around low blood stocks.

HSJ has learned whistleblowers at NHS Blood and Transplant raised concerns with the CQC. As a result, the regulator has been carrying out a review of the organisation’s leadership.

Several current and former staff, who wished to remain anonymous, told HSJ there are widespread concerns about the organisation’s culture, which they claim has enabled bullying and harassment from senior employees, including some racist behaviours.

They said the culture has resulted in a significant number of staff being absent due to stress and anxiety, which alongside the latest wave of coronavirus, has contributed to an ongoing staffing crisis.

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Source: HSJ, 28 July 2022

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CQC plan to restart inspections needed like ‘hole in head’, says Confed

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a plan for re-starting routine inspections — but has been warned by the NHS Confederation that the health service needs this “like a hole in the head”.

The organisation said there would be a “managed return” of “routine inspections” in the autumn.

It also stated in a statement today: ”Inspectors are now scheduling inspections of higher risk services to take place over the summer.” But the CQC later insisted to HSJ that this was not a change to its current policy, in place since the beginning of the UK COVID-19 peak, as it would only be inspecting in response to information it receives which raises “serious concerns”.

The CQC suspended its routine inspections in March – and has instead been calling healthcare providers and only physically attending where there are serious concerns about harm, abuse or human rights breaches.

The new approach to regulation, which the CQC called its “emergency support framework”, was criticised by 11 older people’s and disabled groups, which said the decision not to carry out routine inspections broke human rights and equalities laws.

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Source: HSJ, 17 June 2020

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CQC orders staffing and safety improvements at trust scrutinised over deaths

A mental health trust has been told to make ‘urgent improvements’ by regulators after a fourth inpatient death occurred with similar themes to three other patients dying within 12 months.

The warning, issued by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to Devon Partnership Trust, was made after an unannounced inspection at the trust’s Langdon Hospital – following the death of a patient who died by suspected suicide in July.

Last week HSJ revealed how the death was the fourth inpatient death within the last 12 months at the trust, with each incident having recurring themes.

The latest death happened at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish, on one of the trust’s medium secure wards (Ashcombe), with the patient using a ligature point. It was a similar incident to another serious incident in May on a different ward (Holcombe) at the hospital, and it prompted the inspection from the CQC in mid-August.

While the death remains under investigation by the trust, early details shared with the CQC reveal that the incident happened in an area of the ward which had been changed to an “isolation area” under the trust’s COVID-19 infection prevention strategy. However, this meant there were not “good lines of sight” for staff monitoring patients – according to the CQC’s inspection report.

There were also “low staffing levels on the wards”, according to staff which spoke to the CQC. The staff also told inspectors they were “stressed, exhausted and burnt out following the demands of the pandemic”.

According to the CQC, some staff had concerns about areas on the ward where patients had “unrestricted access to items including sports equipment that could be used as weapons for self-harm”.

Although the ward’s ligature assessment claimed those areas were always supervised by staff, this was disputed by the staff themselves, the report said.

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Source: HSJ, 3 November 2020

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CQC orders ‘significant improvements’ at trust criticised over deaths

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has ordered ‘significant improvements’ from a mental health trust which has been criticised over the deaths of vulnerable patients.

The watchdog has warned Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation Trust (TEWV FT) it has “serious concerns” about risk management processes at its inpatient wards following inspections of three of its hospitals in January. It follows a string of severe problems in child and adolescent services run by the trust. 

In a formal letter and a separate warning notice to TEWV FT, the CQC ordered the trust to carry out “significant improvements” to the safety of adult acute wards, and psychiatric intensive care, after a visit to Roseberry Park, West Park and Cross Lane hospitals on the week of 18 January.

Sources have told HSJ the trust’s leadership is working towards a May deadline to make sufficient improvements or it could potentially risk further enforcement action. However, neither the trust nor the CQC have confirmed this.

Families and campaigners — including Labour MP Andy McDonald, who represents Middlesbrough — have called for a public inquiry into alleged “systematic failures” at the trust following the deaths of around 14 patients under the trust’s care within two years.

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Source: HSJ, 12 March 2021

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CQC ordered to pause ICS inspections

The Care Quality Commission has been ordered to “formally” halt its plans for integrated care system inspections, following the latest criticisms of the organisation.

A major review of the regulator, led by integrated care board chair Penny Dash, is due to be published today. It will identify “serious internal failings,” which are “hampering [the CQC’s] ability to identify poor performance”, according to a pre-released government statement.

It said the health and social care secretary Wes Streeting had accepted a recommendation that the CQC “formally pauses the implementation of its assessments of [ICSs]… as it works to restore public confidence in health and care regulation” to allow it “to focus on getting the basics right”.

The regulator said: ”In agreement with the DHSC, CQC has paused its assessments of integrated care systems for six months.”

ICS inspections were introduced under the Health and Care Act 2022, but the previous government never signed off on the CQC’s approach to running them or decided whether ICSs should be given clear single-word ratings, meaning only a small number of pilots have taken place.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which has been opposing CQC ICS inspections for some time, said: “Given the stark findings, we believe the decision to pause ICS inspections is the right one.”

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Source: HSJ, 15 October 2024

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CQC names worst trusts for experience in A&E

The Care Quality Commission has named the trusts which have performed ‘worse than expected’ on patient experience in urgent and emergency care.

Data from the CQC survey of more than 36,000 people who used urgent and emergency care services in September 2022 shows a total of 10 trusts performed poorly on patients’ overall experience.

Patients reported longer wait times, while only around half felt staff “definitely” did everything they could to help control their pain in the latest survey.

Sean O’Kelly, the CQC’s chief inspector of healthcare, said it “remains extremely concerning that for some people care is falling short”.

“These latest survey responses demonstrate how escalating demand for urgent and emergency care is both impacting on patients’ experience and increasing staff pressures to unsustainable levels."

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Source: HSJ, 26 July 2023

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