14.01.13
Unsafe staffing levels at 17 NHS hospitals – CQC
26 healthcare providers in England are failing to operate safe staffing levels, including 17 NHS hospitals, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found, following inspections in November.
The Sunday Telegraph has listed the 17 hospitals as: Scarborough Hospital; Milton Keynes Hospital; Royal Cornwall Hospital; Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool; Queen's Hospital, Romford; Stamford & Rutland Hospital; Southampton General Hospital; Croydon University Hospital; Bodmin Hospital; Northampton General Hospital; St Peter's Hospital, Maldon; Queen Mary's Hospital, London; Chase Farm Hospital, London; Westmorland General Hospital, Cumbria; Pilgrim Hospital, Lincolnshire; St Anne's House, East Sussex; and Princess Royal Hospital, West Sussex.
The London Ambulance Service and eight mental health trusts were also named. They are: Ainslie and Highams inpatient facility, London; Campbell Centre, Bedford; Forston clinic, Dorset; Cavell Centre, Peterborough; Bradgate mental health unit, Leicestershire; Avon and Wiltshire NHS mental health trust; Blackberry Hill hospital, Bristol; and Park House, Manchester.
The health providers were told they were “non-compliant” with CQC standards. They were also told that they did not have sufficient staff “to keep people safe and meet their health and welfare needs.”
Reports included patients unable to access drinks and warm clothing, and busy staff who did not seem to notice such discomfort.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said that he expected “swift action” to be taken by those named. “There can be no excuse for not providing appropriate staff levels when across the NHS generally there are now more clinical staff working than there were in May 2010 – including nearly 5,000 more doctors and almost 900 extra midwives.”
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: “The Government is doing its best to lay the blame for the ills of the NHS at the door of the nursing profession. But nurses will not be able to provide the standards of care we all want to see when they are so overstretched and the wards so short-staffed.”
Some of the listed trusts have already disputed the figures. The Bradgate Unit, for example, noted that there had been a temporary absence of non-nursing therapeutic staff at the time of the inspection, while the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust said the CQC information was “out of date”.
The Francis inquiry, which is to make recommendations to prevent a repeat of the lapses in care and excess deaths at Stafford hospital, where up to 1,200 patients died needlessly, is due to be published imminently. The King’s Fund examines the issues it is likely to consider here.
UPDATE: Dr Peter Enevoldson, medical director at The Walton Centre NHS FT, called the CQC rating “incorrect and unfair” and that the trust had written to the CQC to say the 'minor compliance concern' and associated comments were unjustified. He said: “Our ratio of medical and nursing staff to patients is very high and is reviewed on a regular basis. In particular, we have a very high consultant to inpatient ratio.
“Patient safety is our most important concern and we are proud of the excellent care that we provide to patients, with a better staff to patient ratio than most other NHS trusts in the country.”
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]