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Found 1,089 results
  1. News Article
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has raised serious concerns about a major teaching trust’s maternity services and taken action to prevent patients coming to harm. The watchdog has imposed conditions on the registration of Nottingham University Hospitals Trust’s maternity and midwifery services at Nottingham City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre and rated them “inadequate”. Following an inspection in October, the CQC identified several serious concerns, including leaders lacking the skills to effectively head up the service, a lack of an open culture where staff could raise concerns, and staff failing to complete patient risk assessments or identify women at risk of deterioration. In its findings, the CQC reported how “fragile” staff wanted to escalate their concerns directly to the regulator, particularly around the leadership’s response to the “verbal outcome of the inspection”. The regulator called this “further evidence of the deep-rooted cultural problems” and escalated these concerns directly to trust CEO Tracy Taylor, who would be “personally overseeing the improvement process required”. Inspectors also found the service did not have enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience to “keep women safe from avoidable harm”. The CQC also issued the trust a warning notice over concerns around documenting risk assessments and IT systems. The trust has three months to make improvements. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 December 2020
  2. News Article
    A review of a clinical commissioning group has discovered “microaggressions and insensitivities” towards Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff, and the use of derogatory slurs about other groups. The report into Surrey Heartlands CCG also uncovered incidents of shouting, screaming and bullying among other inappropriate behaviour. And it was reported some staff were unwilling to accept Black Lives Matter events as important, stating “all lives matter”. The review also discovered a culture of denial and turning a blind eye to consistent concerns, with staff fearful of speaking up. In particular, the HR department was said to have been repeatedly told about the behaviour of one staff member but had chosen to ignore or delay dealing with the issues. However, the review found “no evidence for widespread discriminatory practices” and “no clear evidence for a widespread culture of bullying and ill-treatment” — but it added the systems to deal with concerns had failed and there was a sense of “organisational inaction”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 November 2020
  3. News Article
    The death of a premature baby in 2001 led to a "20-year cover-up" of mistakes by health workers, an independent inquiry has found. Elizabeth Dixon, from Hampshire, died due to a blocked breathing tube shortly before her first birthday. The government, which ordered the inquiry in 2017, said the mistakes in her care were "shocking and harrowing". The inquiry report by Dr Bill Kirkup said some of those involved had been "persistently dishonest". Elizabeth, known as Lizzie, died from asphyxiation after suffering a blockage in her tracheostomy tube while under the care of a private nursing agency at home. Dr Bill Kirkup, who was appointed by the government to review the case, said her "profound disability and death could have been avoided". He said: "There were failures of care by every organisation that looked after her, none of which was admitted at the time, nor properly investigated then or later." "Instead, a cover-up began on the day that she died, propped up by denial and deception." Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 November 2020 Patient Safety Learning's statement on the Dixon Inquiry report
  4. News Article
    Former health secretary and chair of the Commons health committee Jeremy Hunt has criticised Great Ormond Street Hospital after it was accused of covering up errors that may have led to the death of a toddler. Writing for The Independent, Mr Hunt, who has set up a patient safety charity since leaving government, said it was “depressing” to see how the hospital had responded to the case of Jasmine Hughes, which has now been taken to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman for a new investigation. Mr Hunt said the hospital had chosen to issue a “classic non-apology apology of which any politician would be proud” and added he was left angry over the hospital’s “ridiculous decision” to stop talking to Jasmine’s family and the refusal to apologise for what went wrong. The MP for South West Surrey said the case was symbolic of a wider problem in the health service of a blame culture that prevents openness and transparency around mistakes. Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 November 2020
  5. News Article
    An acute trust’s record of eight never events in the last six months has raised concerns that quality standards have slipped since it was taken out of special measures. The never events occurred at Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust. They included three wrong site surgeries within the same speciality and an extremely rare incident in which a 30cm (15 inch) wire was left in a cardiology patient. Kate Shields, chief executive of the trust, said the incidents have led to a “great deal of soul searching”. Prior to the incidents the trust had gone 13 months without recording a never event, and Ms Shield acknowledged that pressure created by the pandemic was likely to have been a contributing factor behind the cluster of never events. She stressed that none of the patients affected had suffered physical harm. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 12 November 2020
  6. News Article
    What does whistleblowing in a pandemic look like? Do employers take concerns more seriously – as we would all hope? Does the victimisation of whistleblowers still happen? Does a pandemic compel more people to speak up? We wanted to know, so Protect analysed the data from all the Covid-19 related calls to theirr Advice Line. They found: * 41% of whistleblowers had Covid-19 concerns ignored by employers * 20% of whistleblowers were dismissed * Managers more likely to be dismissed (32% ) than non-managers (21%) They found that too many whistleblowers feel ignored and isolated once they raise their concerns and that these failing are a systematic problem. Protect, which runs an Advice Line for whistleblowers, and supports more than 3,000 whistleblowers each year, has been inundated with Covid-19 whistleblowing concerns, many of an extremely serious nature. Its report, The Best Warning System: Whistleblowing During Covid-19 examines over 600 Covid-19 calls to its Advice Line between March and September. The majority of cases were over furlough fraud and risk to public safety, such as a lack of social distancing and PPE in the workplace.
  7. News Article
    Organisations across the UK and beyond are set to benefit from a unique NHS- academic partnership which sees a focus on staff safety and morale – and delivers significant cost savings. Together Northumbria University and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust are pioneering professional development courses on Restorative Just Culture. This approach at the Liverpool-based Trust has seen reduced dismissals and suspensions, leading to substantial business savings, and has generated great interest across the health sector. Starting in 2016 Mersey Care has worked to deliver a Restorative Just Culture. And despite increasing its workforce by 135%, the Trust has since seen an 85% reduction in disciplinary investigations and a 95% reduction in suspensions – helping them drive down costs significantly. During the same period, it has also seen improved staff engagement and safety culture scores as measured by the NHS national staff survey. Mersey Care’s Executive Director of Workforce Amanda Oates says: “Mersey Care started on our journey towards a Restorative Just and Learning Culture after conversations with our staff about the barriers staff faced delivering the best care that they could possibly give." “The feedback was overwhelmingly about the fear of blame if something didn't go as expected. This was preventing staff from telling us what wasn’t working. More importantly, it was preventing the opportunity for learning from those things to prevent them from happening again. As a Board, we had the conversation - are we looking at problems the wrong way?” Read full story Source: FE News, 27 October 2020
  8. News Article
    In late July 2019, Sara Ryan tweeted asking families with autistic or learning disabled children to share their experience of “sparkling” actions by health and social care professionals. She was writing a book about how professionals could make a difference in the lives of children and their families. "These tweets generated a visceral feeling in me, in part because of the simplicity of the actions captured. Why would you not ring someone after a particularly difficult appointment to check on them? Isn’t remembering what children like and engaging with their interests an obvious way to generate good relationships? Telling a parent their child has been a pleasure to support is commonplace, surely?" Sara's own son, Connor, was left to drown in an NHS hospital bath while nearby staff finished an online Tesco order. "Certain people, children and adults, in our society are consistently and routinely positioned outside of 'being human', leading to an erasure of love, care and thought by social and healthcare professionals. They become disposable." What has become clear to Sara is how much the treatment of people and their families remains on a failing loop, despite extensive research, legislative and policy change to make their lives better, and potentially transformative moments like the exposure of the Winterbourne View scandal. At the heart of this loop are loving families and a diverse range of allies, surrounded by a large cast of bystanders who, instead of fresh eyes, have vision clouded by ignorance and sometimes prejudice. "To rehumanise society, we need more people with guts and integrity who are prepared to step up and call out poor practice, and to look afresh at how we could do things so much better with a focus on love and brilliance." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 27 October 2020 Sara Ryan's book: Love, learning disabilities and pockets of brilliance: How practitioners can make a difference to the lives of children, families and adults
  9. News Article
    The staff-side committee of a major hospital trust has stopped working with its leadership, with its chair alleging an ‘endemic’ culture of ‘racism, discrimination and bullying’. Irene Pilia, staff-side committee chair at King’s College Hospital Foundation Trust, told colleagues that the decision was taken “in the interests of staff”, especially black, Asian and minority ethnic workers, and expressed concerns about the organisation’s disciplinary procedures. She said the decision had the backing of staff committee officers and delegates. Ms Pilia, who is also the senior KCHFT Unite representative, said she was open to resuming partnership working again, but told trust executives: “I have lost trust and confidence in the ability of [KCHFT] to conduct fair, impartial and no-blame investigations. “Until there is tangible and credible evidence that racist behaviour at all levels is proactively eliminated, such that perpetrators face real consequences (including to the detriment of their careers) for their actions and are no longer allowed to behave in racist ways with impunity, I take a stand for the hundreds, possibly thousands of KCHFT staff whose voices are not being heard." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 October 2020
  10. News Article
    Following a damning report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) has been placed into special measures. It comes after inspectors uncovered a culture of bullying and sexual harassment at the trust. As a result of the decision, EEAST will receive enhanced support to improve its services. A statement from NHS England and NHS Improvement outlined that the Trust would be supported with the appointment of an improvement director, the facilitation of a tailored ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ support package, the arrangement of an external ‘buddying’ with fellow ambulance services and Board development sessions. This follows a CQC recommendation to place the trust in special measures due to challenges around patient and staff safety concerns, workforce processes, complaints and learning, private ambulance service (PAS) oversight and monitoring, and the need for improvement in the trust’s overarching culture to tackle inappropriate behaviours and encourage people to speak up. Ann Radmore, East of England Regional Director said, “While the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has been working through its many challenges, there are long-standing concerns around culture, leadership and governance, and it is important that the trust supports its staff to deliver the high-quality care that patients deserve." “We know that the trust welcomes this decision and shares our commitment to reshape its culture and address quality concerns for the benefit of staff, patients and the wider community.” Read full story Source: Bedford Independent, 19 October 2020
  11. News Article
    A baby died during birth because of systemic errors in one of Britain's largest NHS hospitals, months after staff had warned hospital chiefs that the maternity unit was “unsafe”, an inquest has found. A coroner ruled that neglect by staff at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust contributed to the death of baby Wynter Andrews last year. She was delivered by caesarean section on 15 September after significant delays. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and leg, resulting in her being starved of oxygen. In a verdict on Wednesday, assistant coroner Laurinda Bower said Wynter would have survived if action had been taken sooner, criticising the units “unsafe culture” and warning that her death was not an isolated incident. Wynter’s mother, Sarah Andrews, called on the health secretary, Matt Hancock, to investigate the trust’s maternity unit. She said: “We know Wynter isn’t an isolated incident; there have been other baby deaths arising because of the trust’s systemic failings. She was a victim of the trust’s unsafe culture and practices.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 October 2020
  12. News Article
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is to target poorly performing NHS maternity units after a series of maternity scandals. It is drawing up plans to spot high-risk maternity units and will use data on their patient outcomes and culture to draw up a list of facilities for targeted inspection. The watchdog has voiced concerns over the wider safety of maternity units in the NHS after a number of high-profile maternity scandals in the past year. Almost two-fifths of maternity units, 38%, are rated as “requires improvement” by the CQC for their safety. The Independent has joined with charity Baby Lifeline to call on the government to reinstate a national maternity safety training fund for doctors and midwives. The fund was found to be successful but axed after just one year. On Tuesday, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, told MPs on the Commons Health and Social Care Committee that he was concerned about the safety of mothers and babies in some maternity units which had persistent problems. “Those problems are of dysfunction, poor leadership, of poor culture, of parts of the services not working well together,” he said. “This is not just a few units; this is a significant cultural issue across maternity services.” Now the CQC has confirmed it is planning to draw up a list of poor-performing units or hospitals where it suspects there could be safety issues. The new inspection programme will specifically look at issues around outcomes and teamworking culture although the full methodology has yet to be decided. Read full story Source: The Independent, 4 October 2020
  13. News Article
    As she lay dying in a Joliette, Que., hospital bed, an Atikamekw woman clicked her phone on and broadcast a Facebook Live video appearing to show her being insulted and sworn at by hospital staff. Joyce Echaquan's death on Monday prompted an immediate outcry from her home community of Manawan, about 250 kilometres north of Montreal, and has spurred unusually quick and decisive action on the part of the provincial government. The mother of seven's death will be the subject of a coroner's inquiry and an administrative probe, the Quebec government said today. A nurse who was involved in her treatment has been dismissed. But that dismissal doesn't ease the pain of Echaquan's husband, Carol Dubé, whose voice trembled with emotion as he told Radio-Canada his wife went to the hospital with a stomach ache on Saturday and "two days later, she died." Echaquan's relatives told Radio-Canada she had a history of heart problems and felt she was being given too much morphine. In the video viewed by CBC News, the 37-year-old is heard screaming in distress and repeatedly calling for help. Eventually, her video picks up the voices of staff members. One hospital staff member tells her, "You're stupid as hell." Another is heard saying Echaquan made bad life choices and asking her what her children would say if they saw her in that state. Dubé said it's clear hospital staff were degrading his wife and he doesn't understand how something like this could happen in 2020. Read full story Source: CBC News, 29 September 2020
  14. News Article
    An ambulance service could be put in special measures after a damning report criticised poor leadership for fostering bullying and not acting decisively on allegations of predatory sexual behaviour towards patients. East of England Ambulance Service Trust failed to protect patients and staff from sexual abuse, inappropriate behaviour and harassment, the Care Quality Commission said. It failed to support the mental health and wellbeing of staff, with high levels of bullying and harassment. Staff who raised concerns were not treated with respect and some senior leaders adopted a “combative and defensive approach” which stopped staff speaking out. “The leadership, governance and culture still did not support delivery of high-quality care,” the CQC said. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 30 September 2020
  15. News Article
    NHS leaders are being encouraged to have ‘difficult discussions’ about inequalities, after a trust found its BAME staff reported being ‘systematically… bullied and harassed’, along with other signs of discrimination. A report published by Newcastle Hospitals Foundation Trust found the trust’s black, Asian and minority ethnic staff are more likely than white staff to be bullied or harassed by colleagues, less likely to reach top jobs, and experience higher rates of discrimination from managers. It claims to be the first in-depth review into pay gaps and career progression among BAME workforce at a single trust. The new report revealed that, in a trust survey carried out last year, some BAME staff described being subjected to verbal abuse and racial slurs by colleagues; had left departments after being given no chance of progression; and been “systematically… bullied and harassed”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 September 2020
  16. News Article
    Accidents on maternity wards cost the NHS nearly £1 billion last year, Jeremy Hunt, the chairman of the Commons health committee, has revealed. The former health secretary said the bill for maternity legal action was nearly twice the amount spent on maternity doctors in England. It was part of the NHS’s £2.4 billion total legal fees and compensation bill, up £137 million on the previous year. Mr Hunt has also told the Daily Mail there is evidence that hospitals are failing to provide details of avoidable deaths despite being ordered to do so three years ago as he highlighted “appalling high” figures which showed that up to 150 lives are being lost needlessly every week in public hospitals. Responding to the figures, Mr Hunt said: "Something has gone badly wrong." In 2017, he told trusts to publish data on the number of avoidable deaths among patients in their care. But freedom of information responses from 59 hospital trusts, about half the total, found less than a quarter gave meaningful data on avoidable deaths. Mr Hunt cited “major cultural challenges” which he blamed for preventing doctors and nurses from accepting any blame. He blamed lawyers who get involved “almost immediately” once something goes wrong with a patient’s care. “Doctors, nurses and midwives worry they could lose their licence if they are found to have made a mistake. Hospital managers worry about the reputation of their organisation,” he added. Mr Hunt said: “We have appallingly high levels of avoidable harm and death in our healthcare system. We seem to just accept it as inevitable.” An NHS spokesman said: “Delivering the safest possible health service for patients is a priority, and the national policy on learning from deaths is clear that hospitals must publish this information every three months, as well as an annual summary, so that they are clear about any problems that have been identified and how they are being addressed. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 18 September 2020
  17. News Article
    A hospital boss championed by Matt Hancock has been told to end “a toxic management culture” after doctors were asked to provide fingerprint samples to identify a whistleblower. The Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) has urged the chief executive of West Suffolk hospital, Steve Dunn, who Hancock described as an “outstanding leader”, to take urgent action to improve the wellbeing of senior clinicians and “thereby the safety of patients”. In a strongly worded letter sent to Dunn in July, seen by the Guardian, the RCoA president, Prof Ravi Mahajan, reminded him that “undermining and bullying behaviour is unacceptable”. Following a three-day review of the hospital, Prof Mahajan’s letter said senior anaesthetists had complained about a “toxic management culture that risks impairing their ability to care safely for patients”. The incident, and other failings in patient safety, contributed to the hospital becoming the first ever to be relegated by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors from “outstanding” to “requires improvement” in January. A spokesman for the trust said: “Ensuring our colleagues work in a supportive, safe environment is good for our staff and means better patient care, which is why we have done extensive work this year to act on feedback about our working culture, including taking action to address the concerns raised by the Royal College of Anaesthetists.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 September 2020
  18. News Article
    When we put people on a pedestal, my experience is that they are less likely to be asked, ‘are you OK?’, writes Samantha Batt-Rawden, a senior registrar in intensive care medicine. Like many she has been touched by the groundswell of support from the public. But there’s a problem with this hero image, she says. "It’s not just that many NHS staff are feeling increasingly uncomfortable with being hailed as heroes for what they see as simply doing their jobs. Of course, we were going to step up to the plate when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. As doctors it was our duty. There was never any question. "But there’s something more than just feeling undeserving of the cape weighing heavily on our shoulders. The worst thing about being seen as a superhero? Very few think to ask if you’re OK. And herein lies the problem. Because healthcare workers are not heroes, we are human. Completely, painstakingly, fallibly human." Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 May 2021
  19. News Article
    NHS whistleblowers have required counselling and medication and a quarter would not raise concerns again due to the stress and lack of support, a report found. A review of existing policy at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde found “concerning” evidence of a significant impact on the mental health of both whistleblowers and managers with little support provided. It found there was “no clear documented process” to highlight serious, urgent issues to the appropriate manager. Healthworkers’ union Unison said staff were often labelled ‘trouble-makers’ with senior managers "defensive from the outset". Sixty percent of staff reported that their mental health was negatively impacted by whistleblowing with some requiring counselling or medication to cope with the stress of disclosures. The report said it was of concern that a quarter of staff stated that they would not raise concerns such as unsafe clinical practices again given their experiences, a figure which it said was likely to be higher as this information was only recorded if it was volunteered by staff. Unison’s Regional Organiser Matt McLaughlin said, “Unison welcomes this paper and the Boards commitment to follow the updates national guidance. “However it will take more than a new policy for whistleblowers to feel valued within NHS GGC. The organisation is too defensive and staff who whistleblow often do so out of shear frustration that legitimate concerns are ignored – or worse, where the whistleblower is seen as a trouble maker. " "NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde needs to embrace and welcome staff speaking out; rather than being defensive from the outset." Read full story Source: The Herald, 28 April 2021
  20. News Article
    A ‘flurry’ of whistleblowers have raised concerns about the culture within an NHS trust which is grappling with finance and governance problems, its directors were told today. Staff at Cornwall Partnership Foundation Trust have reported a “command and control” culture at the trust, which last week apologised to its employees for overtime payments made to board members for extra hours worked during the first peak of the pandemic. It comes as the trust’s new chair and interim chief executive both pledged to communicate “openly and honestly” with staff. Read full story (paywalled) Source HSJ, 12 April 2021
  21. News Article
    Deep-rooted relationship problems between consultants in a major trust’s neurosurgery department distracted from patient care, according to a review leaked to HSJ. A review by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) into neurosurgery services at University Hospitals Birmingham FT last year found serious concerns over consultant “cliques” and relationship problems across the department. It comes as a new review has been launched into the care of 23 patients in the deep brain stimulation service, which is a sub-speciality in the department. According to the RCS report, which was completed in May last year, there have been wide-ranging problems within the department for several years. The report said: “Poor team working and inter-relational difficulties, which had been deep-rooted and recognised to have existed for some time, have had the potential to compromise patient care and will be likely to continue to do so if these issues remain unresolved.” It suggested some consultant neurosurgeons had prioritised their personal or professional differences over patient care, with the relationship issues being “amplified” within the wider surgical workforce. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 7 April 2021
  22. News Article
    More Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections will take place from next month as pressures from COVID-19 continue to ease. Board papers published ahead of a meeting on Wednesday have revealed the CQC will return to inspecting and rating NHS trusts and independent healthcare services which are rated “inadequate” or “requires improvement”, alongside those where new risks have come to light. From April, the CQC also plans to carry out well-led inspections of NHS and private mental healthcare providers, and programmes of focused inspections on the safety of maternity departments and providers’ infection prevention processes. Focused inspections into emergency departments, which the CQC began in February, will continue. Inspections into GP services rated “requires improvement” and “inadequate” will also resume in April, focusing on safety, effectiveness and leadership. Finally, the papers said the watchdog would prioritise inspections of “high-risk” independent healthcare services, such as ambulances, cosmetic surgery or where closed cultures may exist. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 March 2021
  23. News Article
    With the annual NHS Staff Survey recently published, expectation was that this year might look a little different, all things considered. For the mental health sector, the dial didn’t move massively on key questions. The sector still came out bottom for staff who agreed they’d be happy with the standard of care if a friend or family member needed it - otherwise called the “family and friends test”. Although the survey was not that revelatory this year, it is still a helpful barometer for trusts’ safety and quality culture. Sheffield Health and Social Care Foundation Trust comes out lowest on all of the main quality and safety-related questions. On the crucial family and friends question, just 47% of the trust’s staff agreed that would be happy with the standard of care. The trust has been one of the worst performers on the survey for a number of years but appears to have deteriorated further. Sheffield Health and Social Care FT also came out worst on the following key safety culture related questions: When errors, near misses or incidents are reported, my organisation takes action to ensure that they do not happen again I would feel secure raising concerns about unsafe clinical practice My organisation acts on concerns raised by patients/service users. The last two questions are a vital indicator of a trust’s approach to safety and quality. If staff do not feel secure to raise concerns, or if a trust does not act on patient concerns can it really address problems before they escalate? Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 12 March 2021
  24. News Article
    Hospitals and care homes are failing to properly investigate incidents before referring nurses to their regulator, fuelling a blame culture and repeat failures, the head of the nursing watchdog has told The Independent. In her first national interview, Andrea Sutcliffe, head of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said some employers were referring nurses without any investigation at all, while half of initial enquiries to the NMC were rejected or required further work. She told The Independent this emphasis on blaming the individual meant underlying causes of safety errors were being missed and so they were likely to be repeated. Her ambition is to transform the nursing regulator, which oversees 725,000 nurses and midwives across the UK, into a more forceful watchdog that will flag systemic issues of concern with NHS trusts and care homes. In a wide-ranging interview, Ms Sutcliffe called on ministers to ensure that planned legislation to reform the way clinicians are regulated be made transparent and maintain the public’s confidence. She also stressed that the impact of coronavirus on nurses mental health meant rushing to restart routine operations in the NHS had to be carefully planned to avoid driving nurses out of the health service. Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 March 2021
  25. News Article
    Former staff at a Midlands acute trust have raised concerns over a ‘toxic management culture’ and ‘unsafe’ staffing levels within its maternity services, HSJ has learned. Two clinicians who recently worked within Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust’s maternity department have sent a letter to the Care Quality Commission outlining a series of concerns. The letter, seen by HSJ, claimed there was a “toxic management culture alongside poor leadership” within the trust’s senior midwifery team. It added: “This had led to 100 per cent turnover in staff within the middle management line… There is no confidence in the current leadership structure and no confidence that staff will be listened to and heard.” HSJ also understands there are also concerns around the service within the trust’s management. Although they do not raise direct patient safety concerns, the clinicians said the problems were “mostly long-standing” and had “deteriorated to the point where there is now a risk to patient safety”. They added: “We are raising these concerns now with the CQC as we feel we have not been listened to and changed effected in a timely manner.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 10 March 2021
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