'Blame culture' and unsafe staff levels at NHS trust

An NHS trust at the centre of a breast cancer care scandal had unsafe staffing levels and a "blame culture", inspectors have found.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDNFT) was told it "must make immediate improvements" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following a series of inspections late last year.

The watchdog found "standards of care had deteriorated" and staff said they were "actively discouraged from speaking up about concerns".

The trust accepted the findings and said "significant work" had already been done to strengthen patient safety, improve services and support staff.

Durham Police was already investigating whether any criminal offences had been committed before the report, after multiple failings in breast cancer services at the trust, including missed cancers and unnecessary mastectomies.

CQC inspectors identified "significant and serious safety concerns" at surgery services at University Hospital North Durham, Darlington Memorial Hospital and Bishop Auckland Hospital in October.

These related to safe staffing, escalation when patient health was deteriorating, record-keeping, and learning from incidents.

CQC deputy director of hospitals in the North East, Chris Storton, said it was concerning staff "didn't feel listened to and had to repeatedly raise the same issues".

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Source: BBC News, 12 June 2026