‘Beginnings of safety culture’ emerging at ‘cover-up’ trust

An ambulance trust at the centre of an inquiry into alleged cover-ups has shown signs of improvement, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

North East Ambulance Service Foundation Trust has been accused of withholding information from coroners. An ongoing inquiry chaired by former acute trust chief executive Dame Marianne Griffiths is looking at how it deals with serious incidents, whistleblowers’ concerns and whether the trust complies with the “duty of candour” as well as its processes around inquests. 

The CQC report suggests it has made progress on many of these areas since inspections last year – which triggered a warning notice – and has raised the rating for its emergency and urgent care division from “inadequate” to “requires improvement”. 

The inspectors said it was a “mixed picture” but they had seen “the beginnings of a safety culture emerging within the trust”.

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Source: HSJ, 7 July 2023