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