The Care Quality Commission has today criticised an Essex NHS trust for the continuing ‘unacceptably high’ risk of poor care at its two hospitals.
The health care regulator’s report into the Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust urged it to ‘stop relying on others’ to improve standards after finding failings in maternity provision, accident and emergency care and radiology treatment at two hospitals.The CQC investigation strongly criticised the quality of care in the maternity unit at the trust’s Queen’s Hospital in Romford, where there was poor clinical care and unprofessional behaviour from verbally abusive staff.
Elements of poor care were also found by unannounced inspections,at the King George Hospital in Goodmayes. These began in early July in response to the trust’s ‘history of poor performance’.
Although action has already been taken to address immediate concerns about maternity services ahead of the publication of the report, the watchdog warned that patients remained at risk of poor care.
CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower said there were ‘real concerns about safety in the mid-to longer term’.
She said: ‘This organisation needs to stop relying on others to tell it what’s wrong and put in place the systems and processes that will ensure care is safe – so that no one else is failed or harmed by poor care.’
The report has made a total of 73 recommendations for improvement, including two strategic recommendations for the trust and 15 specific recommendations on the maternity services.
These include that the trust, in conjunction with NHS London, should seek external help in undertaking ‘organisational change and service improvement’. It should also seek to reduce overcapacity at Queen’s Hospital.
The trust must ensure that there are enough midwives to provide one-to-one care for all women during labour. It should also increase the number of supervisors of midwives as a matter of priority, to improve oversight and reduce the workload on those currently in post.
The trust’s governance system is criticised as weak, and the report warns that despite recent changes to the structure there is still a risk of problems being missed. Widespread changes are also called for in the management of patient flows, complaints systems and staff recruitment.
The CQC will continue to monitor progress through unannounced inspections. A review at the end of March will determine whether the response from the trust, NHS London and health care commissioners is leading to improvements.
Bower said: ‘The trust, NHS London and commissioners must now take responsibility for tackling the significant problems we have identified on a longer-term basis.’
Responding to the report, trust chief executive Averil Dongworth said that the findings were being taken ‘extremely seriously’, with work having already started to implement the recommendations.
She added: ‘The quality of care we offer, and the experience our patients have of our care, is our highest concern and this report presents an important opportunity to improve our care.’
Dongworth said that the CQC’s verdict would be ‘a turning point’ for the trust. ‘We recognise that there have been failures in the past, but we are determined to continue to improve until we are among the best trusts in the country, giving our patients the high-quality care they deserve.’
