Jump to content
  • articles
    9,854
  • comments
    83
  • views
    12,501,201

Contributors to this article

About this News

Articles in the news

CQC names best and worst for maternity experience

The trusts where maternity care has deteriorated the most according to patient surveys have been identified by the Care Quality Commission.

The regulator collected responses from 25,515 patients about their experiences of antenatal care, labour, birth and postnatal care across 121 trusts in February 2023. 

It then analysed where experiences of care were substantially better or worse overall when compared with survey results across all trusts in England.

Survey responses also painted a deteriorating picture of maternity care nationally, with answers to 11 questions showing a statistically significant downward trend compared to five years ago.

Five trusts were categorised as “worse than expected”, where patients’ experiences of using their services were substantially worse than the average.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 12 February 2024

Read more

CQC must pay £500,000 after provider wins High Court challenge

The Care Quality Commission has been criticised by the High Court for failing to follow its own conflict of interest policy, after a legal challenge by a mental health provider.

Cygnet, the private inpatient mental health provider, instigated the judicial review against the regulator, accusing it of failing to follow its conflict of interest policies in its choice of inspector.

The CQC will now have to review its report into one of the Cygnet-run sites, the Acer Hospital in Chesterfield. It was given an “inadequate” rating, an unusual outcome for a focused inspection, and put into special measures over risks to patients and poor staffing.

The inspector at the centre of the case – who cannot be named because of reporting restrictions – had previously been detained in two hospitals run by Cygnet in 2012-13 – and had complained about his care and treatment.

The former mental health nurse went on to become a CQC inspector and started to inspect facilities run by Cygnet in 2019.

At a court hearing, Cygnet argued seven inspection reports on five of its sites, and enforcement action taken against one of them, were affected by the inspector’s apparent bias. The CQC had previously refused to review these reports and enforcement action, the provider said.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 24 February 2025

Read more
 

CQC launches criminal investigation into medication incidents at major acute trust

A major acute trust has confirmed the health service inspectorate has begun a criminal investigation into three incidents at its hospitals.

University Hospitals Birmingham FT told HSJ the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has started a criminal investigation into incidents involving potential errors around the provision of anti-coagulant medication.

The trust received a letter from the CQC this month informing it that the regulator has begun the investigation under regulation 22 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (regulated activities) regulations 2014. The incidents happened at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and Good Hope Hospital — the trust’s two main sites.

Regulation 22 says: “In order to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of service users, the registered person must take appropriate steps to ensure that, at all times, there are sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced persons employed for the purposes of carrying on the regulated activity.”

The CQC launched a prosecution into East Kent Hospitals University FT this month for failing to meet fundamental standards of care. The regulator also successfully prosecuted University Hospitals Plymouth Trust in September after it pleaded guilty to breaching the duty of candour. 

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 23 October 2020

Read more

CQC issues warning about care home staff working with Covid

Care watchdogs are investigating concerns that staff with Covid-19 have been working with care home residents as operators said absence levels are as high as 70% owing to sickness and self-isolation, increasing pressure to get staff back to work.

The Care Quality Commission has ordered several councils to investigate allegations about the practice, which puts lives at risk, and possible breaches of the Care Act relating to abuse or neglect of residents. It is understood to be dealing with fewer than 10 cases.

But the regulator has issued a warning to all care homes in England with the Department of Health and Social Care and council social services chiefs that “under no circumstances should staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, regardless of whether they are displaying symptoms or not, work in a care setting” until their self-isolation has ended.

The Rights for Residents group said on Thursday it had been contacted by a carer whose boss had asked her to return to work only a few days after a positive test because of staff shortages. She refused and no longer works for the care home.

In many homes, a quarter of staff are sick or self-isolating, with the ratio as high as 70% in some cases and operators are bringing in friends and family to try to cover shifts, said Nadra Ahmed, executive chairman of the National Care Association.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 28 January 2021

Read more
 

CQC investigates its own response to concerns over troubled service

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has launched a review into its own regulatory response to a troubled autism service.

The CQC has asked its head of inspection for child and justice services, Nigel Thompson, to examine its response to concerns that were raised about an autism service in south Staffordshire in 2019.

Concerns were reported directly to the CQC in early 2019, by parents of children under the services, while similar issues were highlighted in a report from the local Healthwatch branch last July.

In a statement, the CQC said: “Following concerns raised with us by families, in relation to The Hayes autism service run by Midlands Psychology, we are looking at the evidence we received about this service and how we assessed this to inform our regulatory response.

“We are looking into these concerns in accordance with our complaints process. As a learning organisation, we welcome all feedback and we have already met with some of the families, but some meetings have been delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic.”

Read full story

Source: HSJ, 25 June 2020

Read more

CQC inspection process may be ‘disproportionate’, finds Government review

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection process may be ‘disproportionate’, a Government survey found, although the incredibly low response rate hampered conclusions.

All 51,000 providers registered with the CQC were given access to a survey as part of a post implementation review but only 86 responded and only 36 of those were NHS providers.

Most NHS responses to the survey came from organisations employing between 10 and 49 people, the review found.

The lack of engagement with the survey meant no conclusion could be reached about whether an alternative system would impose less regulation of the health and social care sector.

Criticisms among those who did respond included that the registration process is too inflexible, and the regulations too onerous and burdensome.

Some also felt the CQC regulations do not cover all health and social care activities where there is a possible risk to patient safety or service users.

Read full story

Source: Pulse, 13 July 2023

Read more

CQC inspection approach helping fuel emergency care crisis, says trust chief

A trust chief executive says the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) inspection regime is still overly focussed on individual organisations, rather than systems, and this is driving the “risk aversion” which is partly responsible for the emergency care crisis.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust CEO Len Richards acknowledged the CQC has started to scrutinise system-wide issues but suggested the “heat” of its regulation is still on individual providers.

Mr Richards told the House of Lords’ public services committee on Wednesday that care homes and nursing homes in his area have declined to take patients ready to be discharged from hospital, due to concerns it would put their CQC accreditation at risk.

He said: “[Last winter] we asked nursing homes and care homes to take patients and they couldn’t take them beyond a certain limit because it would put their accreditation at risk.

“We went to the CQC to try and create some flexibility. Their perspective was very much of an independent regulatory body that would look at the organisation and not look at the system. I think we’ve got an awful long way to go there.

“I think regulation does drive risk aversion… [and] the heat of regulation right at the moment is on individual organisations.

“Therefore, when the CQC come and look at my organisation, they will talk about congestion in the A&E department. They won’t talk about the assessment that we made around there being a greater risk in the community if we didn’t offload ambulances.”

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 28 October 2022

Read more

CQC in legal battle with private provider over ‘inadequate’ report

An independent patient transport provider is taking legal action against the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after an inspection led to it being unable to operate for nearly three months.

The company, called Specialist Medical Transport (SMT), transports many mental health patients between hospitals, and is used by numerous NHS commissioners and trusts.

Its “north” division, which is based in North Shields, North Tyneside, was unable to operate between the middle of January and the end of March, which it says has led to reputational damage and loss of revenue. 

The inspectors, who visited in response to concerns raised by a whistleblower, found issues with paperwork on employment, risk assessments, and use of restrictive practices, including of some patients effectively in a “cell”, or handcuffed, in an ambulance. The CQC was also critical of the lack of processes to ensure patients had medicines, food, drink and access to toilets during the journey.

However, SMT successfully appealed the CQC’s notice of decision at a first tier tribunal, which found the regulator’s decision “was not necessary, reasonable or proportionate”. 

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 19 June 2023

Read more

CQC guilty of maladministration in £200k fit and proper person case

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has been found guilty of maladministration over its handling of a fit and proper person test complaint which led to a £200,000 investigation by an NHS trust. A Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigation identified “several instances of maladministration” in the CQC’s handling of a complaint by former consultant paediatrician David Drew. 

Ombudsman Rob Behrens has now written to the Health Secretary, NHS England, Chair of the Commons Health Committee Sarah Wollaston, and Chair of the Parliamentary and Constitutional Affairs Committee Bernard Jenkin with a copy of the PHSO investigation. In his letter. Mr Behrens said: “I believe this case exemplifies the damaging impact that poor handling of allegations can have on people’s faith in the ability of the CQC to identify and act on misconduct when whistleblowers come forward. This underlines the need for reform to the [fit and proper person] system and the recommendations from the Kark review to be swiftly implemented.”

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 24 July 2019

Read more

CQC gets caretaker chair after ‘regrettable’ delay

An interim chair has been appointed to the Care Quality Commission, which has bemoaned a “regrettable” delay in recruiting a permanent successor.

Non-executive director Kay Boycott will take on the role from 1 June until 31 July unless a substantive chair is appointed earlier.

At Care Quality Commission’s board meeting on Wednesday, Ms Boycott said the new health secretary, James Murray, had not yet put forward his preferred candidate for the position. That person will also need to go before MPs at the Commons’ health and social care committee before appointment.

She said the continued delay was “regrettable”.

Sir Mike Richards announced he would be retiring in February, but at the time said he would stay until a replacement chair was in place.  

However, Ms Boycott said Sir Mike had decided to step down for “personal reasons” at the end of last month, after the process took longer than expected.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 3 June 2026

Read more
 

CQC found emergency caesarean taking place without basic safety measures

After an unannounced inspection at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust in June, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found an “emergency c-section was being performed without the correct equipment available to monitor the mother”. According to reports, the inspectors stepped in immediately to raise concerns, which was then corrected straight away.

In a letter to the trust, the CQC wrote, “Overall, we were concerned that the safety culture in the service was underdeveloped. There were no dedicated maternity safety huddles in line with national guidance. Handovers doubled up as safety huddles. During our observations of handovers, we saw that staff did not discuss safety issues and the format was not safety focused.” 

Read full story (paywalled).

Source: HSJ, 6 August 2021

Read more

CQC examining service which ‘gave 14 people unnecessary cancer treatment’

Fourteen patients have raised concerns they may have received unnecessary chemotherapy with “debilitating side effects” at the same hospital, some for a decade or more, HSJ has been told.

The Care Quality Commission confirmed it was discussing concerns that University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire treated patients with temozolomide for far longer than deemed safe, and unnecessarily.

One man was treated with temozolomide for a brain tumour for more than 14 years, the BBC reported, despite NHS guidelines recommending treatment programmes of between six and 12 months.

The law firm Brabners, which is now representing five patients concerned they are in a similar situation, told HSJ it had spoken to others who had received the treatment for more than a decade. It had heard from 14 people as of yesterday, it said.

Read full story

Source: HSJ, 28 January 2025

Read more

CQC demands answers over Southport attack data breach

The Care Quality Commission is investigating whether the trust where staff inappropriately viewed the records of Southport attack victims met its “duty of candour” after the provider was accused of a “cover up”, HSJ can reveal.

The regulator is understood to be asking further questions to determine whether University Hospitals of Liverpool Group met its statutory transparency regulations when it decided not to tell the patients about the breach. 

It is understood the regulator’s fresh intervention was prompted by HSJ  revealing last week that 48 hospital staff had inappropriately accessed files of victims who had survived a stabbing at a children’s dance studio in Southport in 2024. 

UHLG decided not to inform victims of the breach the following year. The trust said this was because they were concerned it could retraumatise patients.  

But the patients responded furiously when HSJ revealed the trust had decided it would not inform impacted patients about the breach and accused the trust of  an “attempted cover-up”.  

One of those impacted, Leanne Lucas, said discovering patients had not been told about the data breach was a “new low”. 

The Care Quality Commission was originally informed about the breach “at the time of the incident”. But the regulator took no action at this stage.

However, since HSJ’s story last week, it has now emerged that the regulator is in fresh contact with the trust “to follow-up with regards to their review of the duty of candour”. 

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 22 May 2026

Read more

CQC criticises outstanding-rated trust for ‘unsafe’ staffing

An ‘outstanding’ rated mental health trust has been criticised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for ‘unsafe’ levels of staffing and inadequate monitoring of vulnerable patients.

The CQC said an inpatient ward for adults with learning disabilities and autism run by Cumbria Northumberland Tyne and Wear Foundation Trust “wasn’t delivering safe care”, and some staff were “feeling unsafe due to continued short staffing”, following an unannounced inspection in February.

The inspection into Rose Lodge, a 10-bed unit in South Tyneside, took place after the CQC received concerns about the service.

Inspectors highlighted a high use of agency staff, with some shifts “falling below safe staffing levels”, which meant regular monitoring of patients with significant physical health issues “was not always taking place”.

They said the trust had “implemented a robust action plan” following the inspection. The CQC did not issue a rating. The trust’s overall rating for wards for people with a learning disability remains as “good”, and its overall rating remains “outstanding”.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 8 July 2022

Read more

CQC criticises care scandal trust for 'unsafe staffing'

The trust at the centre of a maternity scandal does not have enough midwifery staff to keep women and babies safe, a Care Quality Commission (CQC)inspection has revealed.

East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust relied on community midwives to fill slots at its acute unit, with some of them working 20-hour days after being called in to help cover and feeling outside of their competence.

The trust had suspended a midwife-led unit and diverted women in labour to other hospitals – and when the CQC raised the understaffing issue at its inspection in July, it suspended its home birth service. But the CQC found that the number of midwives and maternity workers on duty rarely matched planned numbers and managers rarely calculated staffing numbers accurately, with some elements of the workload not being factored in.

Lack of staff meant there was a risk to the safe assessment and monitoring of women and babies at the trust’s William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. Unqualified staff were having to deal with telephone queries from women who needed advice and support.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 15 October 2021

Read more
 

CQC criticises ‘ineffective leadership’ at mental health provider

Appletree Hospital in Durham, a unit that provides female patients needing mental health care, has received an urgent enforcement notice from the Care Quality Commission.

According to a report published by the CQC today, the hospital had “ineffective leadership”, also warning staff were carrying out “inappropriate” restraint on patients and that restraint was used “as a first line intervention”. The CQC report revealed staff had also claimed managers accepted the use of “unnecessary” restrictive practices.

A spokeswoman for Cygnet’s Appletree unit said: “We move forward with strengthened local leadership, including a new hospital director and safeguarding and quality improvement leads.”

Read full story (paywalled).

Source: HSJ, 25 August 2021

Read more
 

CQC closes ‘inadequate’ children’s unit

An NHS children’s mental health unit has been closed down by the Care Quality Commission after being rated “inadequate” last week.

A child and adolescent mental health ward run by Tees, Esk and Wear Valley’s Foundation Trust has been closed after the CQC took enforcement action to protect the safety of patients.

In a statement today, a CQC spokesman said: ”[We have] taken urgent enforcement action at Tees, Esk and Wear Valley’s Foundation Trust which will lead to the closure of the child and adolescent mental health service units at West Lane Hospital. The Holly unit at West Park Hospital and Baysdale Unit at Roseberry Park are unaffected. The action follows continued concerns identified at earlier inspections in June and August, and the recent inspection on 20 and 21 August 2019."

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 23 August 2019

Read more

CQC chief sceptical about need for ‘patient safety commissioner’

The Care Quality Commission's chief executive Ian Trenholm has said he is sceptical about the need to appoint an NHS patient safety commissioner, one of the key recommendations of the recently published Cumberlege review.

In a wide-ranging interview with HSJ, Mr Trenholm also revealed that he wants the Care Quality Commission to review the collaboration of every health system in England.

Mr Trenholm told HSJ he is “not sure” a patient safety commissioner was needed and that it would need to perform a “role that was different from what’s already in place” for it to add value.

He said: “If you look at the work we’re doing on patient safety, the work that HSIB are doing on patient safety, and then we’ve got people within the NHS itself doing work on patient safety, I think there are enough people playing. The question is, are we all working together as effectively as we possibly could be.

“If another player helps that work [then] great, but I’m not sure that’s something that is necessary.”

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 24 August 2020

Read more

CQC chief quits with ‘immediate effect’

The chief executive of the Care Quality Commission has quit with “immediate effect”, the regulator has announced today.

Sir Julian Hartley confirmed his departure after deciding his role had become “incompatible” with the ongoing independent maternity and neonatal inquiry ongoing at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, examining care provided while he was CEO. 

Arun Chopra, chief inspector of mental health, is planned to assume the role of interim CEO until a permanent successor is appointed, the CQC said in a statement. 

Sir Julian said: “This has been an incredibly difficult decision. However, I feel that my current role as chief executive of CQC has become incompatible with the important conversations happening about care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, including during the time I was chief executive there. I am so sorry for the fact that some families suffered harm and loss during this time.

“I will be giving whatever support I can to the inquiry into maternity services at Leeds, so families get the transparency and answers that they need and deserve – and I want to avoid my connection with the trust impacting on CQC’s work to rebuild people’s confidence in the regulator.”

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 23 October 2025

Read more

CQC chief admits ‘we’ve lost your trust’ and announces more inspections

The Care Quality Commission’s new chief executive has admitted the regulator “got things wrong” during the rollout of its new inspection regime and announced an increase in the number of assessments it carries out.

The CQC announced a shake-up of its regulatory regime three years ago. It involved a move from a “set schedule of inspections to a more flexible, targeted approach”, called the “single assessment framework”, with greater reliance on data.

However, its rollout has been controversial with CQC’s own staff and providers flagging concerns about the new approach.

Now, Ms Terroni has said changes in how the regulator manages relationships has left many providers feeling “unsupported”, with wider technical issues preventing organisations from accessing information.

She wrote: ”I want to start with an apology. We’ve got things wrong in the implementation of our new regulatory approach. I know that the changes we’ve delivered so far are not what we promised. It’s made things more difficult than they should be. We’re not where we want to be, and we’re determined to put things right….

“Many of the issues we’re experiencing now were anticipated and flagged by providers and our own people. We didn’t listen properly or take on board these concerns, and that’s why we’re where we are now.

“Though there was significant engagement and co-production of the high-level elements of our approach, we didn’t follow that process into the detail of how we’ll assess providers. I know that, for some of you, we’ve lost your trust because of this. I’m sorry.”

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 15 July 2024

Read more

CQC case reveals ‘degrading’ conditions in England care home as Covid hit

The depth of suffering in care homes in England as Covid hit has been laid bare in a court case exposing “degrading” treatment with residents being “catastrophically let down”.

Care levels at the Temple Court care home in Kettering collapsed so badly in April 2020, when ministers rushed to free up NHS capacity by discharging thousands of people, that residents were left lying in their own faeces, dehydrated, malnourished and suffering necrotic, infected wounds, the Care Quality Commission found. Fifteen of its residents died with Covid in the first weeks of the pandemic.

The case foreshadows the UK Covid-19 public inquiry module on the care sector, which next year will test Matt Hancock’s claim to have thrown “a protective ring around social care”.

The prosecution resulted in a £120,000 fine handed down at Northampton magistrates court last week. The operator, Amicura, apologised but said it had been “acting in the national interest and supporting the NHS by accepting patients discharged from hospitals into care homes under government policy”.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 29 May 2023

Read more
 

CQC calls for NHSE to publish 'safety test' of triage apps amid warnings of variation

Healthcare apps that triage patients should be put through a ‘fair test of clinical performance’ published by NHS England to ensure their safety, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In addition, the Department of Health and Social Care should look into whether ‘safety-netting’ advice should be available to the public about how to use symptom checkers, said the CQC.

The CQC made the recommendations as part of work to shape its approach to regulating healthcare apps. It found digital triage tools are currently not fully clinically validated or tested by product regulators and discovered ‘there is great variation in their clinical performance’.

NHS England and other bodies should assess where people have been wrongly escalated, resulting in undue anxiety, as well as where tools have failed to address people’s ill health, said the CQC.

Read full story

Source: PULSE, 30 January 2020

Read more

CQC brings in whistleblowing gurus to boost ‘independence and credibility’

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has hired two independent whistleblowing champions, Joy Warmington and Arpita Dutt, to oversee a major review of how it listens to concerns.

The CQC previously announced it had appointed Zoe Leventhal KC, of Matrix Chambers, to lead the first phase of the review, which is considering how the CQC handled protected disclosures made by Shyam Kumar, an orthopaedic surgeon at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust, and whether ethnicity “played any part in the management of those disclosures”.

On Friday it issued details of the second phase of the work, including that it had brought in two outside experts, and long-time champions of whistleblowers, to “help to ensure the independence and credibility of the review”.

This was launched amid wider concerns about how it responds to whistleblowing concerns in the service and among its own staff, including potential discrimination and also comes as the CQC itself seeks to begin a major restructure.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 22 November 2022

Read more

© 2026 Patient Safety Learning. All rights reserved.

Patient Safety Learning is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission Registration number 1180689.

×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.