Wards at trust facing patient deaths inquiry downgraded to ‘inadequate’

Wards at a trust facing an inquiry over the deaths of vulnerable patients have been downgraded to ‘inadequate’ over fresh patient safety concerns. 

The Care Quality Commission said five adult and intensive wards across three hospitals run by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) Foundation Trust “did not manage patient safety incidents well”. It also criticised the trust’s leaders for failing to make sure staff knew how to assess patient risk.

The watchdog rated the trust’s acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units as “inadequate” overall as well as for safety and leadership. The trust was also served a warning notice threatening more enforcement action if the patient safety issues are not urgently addressed. At the previous inspection in March 2020, the service was rated “good”.

TEWV said it has taken “immediate action” to address the issues, including a rapid improvement event for staff and daily safety briefings, and will also spend £3.6m to recruit 80 more staff. The trust’s overall rating of “requires improvement” remains unchanged after this inspection.

Brian Cranna, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for the North (mental health and community health services), said: “We found these five wards were providing a service where risks were not assessed effectively or managed well enough to keep people safe from harm."

“Staff did not fully understand the complex risk assessment process and what was expected of them. The lack of robust documentation put people at direct risk of harm, as staff did not have access to the information they needed to provide safe care."

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Source: HSJ, 26 March 2021