8 March 2012
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has produced a critical
follow-up report of East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust after a team of inspectors carried out an inspection of Eastbourne District General Hospital at the end of February.
The CQC has formally warned East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust that it must make immediate improvements at Conquest Hospital, Hastings and Eastbourne District General Hospital. It must do more to improve the way it monitors and assesses the standards of treatment and care that patients receive. The trust has until 31st March 2012 to comply with the regulation relating to assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision.
The CQC originally inspected the Trust in September 2011 and that report is available on the
CQC website. Inspectors found during that inspection:
There was a lack of evidence that patients with reduced mental capacity had access to advocacy, or that best interest meetings had taken place with regard to decisions on their behalf such as Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) decisions.
- Systems and processes for monitoring the quality and safety of services were not robust. The trust risk register did not reflect the level of current risk to patients.
- Although there have been improvements in staffing, recruitment of middle grade doctors and consultants remained an issue with a high dependency on locum doctors to supplement core medical staffing.
- Reporting arrangements to the Board were not robust enough to provide full reassurance that patients were being protected.
- Care plans were incomplete in a number of areas of care.
Ian Biggs, Deputy Director of CQC in the South, said:
“The trust needs to take this warning very seriously indeed.
“The essential standards exist to protect vulnerable people – who cannot always speak up for themselves – from being put at risk. NHS trusts have a duty to make sure that the care they deliver meets the government’s essential standards in order to deliver safe and good quality care to patients.
“CQC has a range of legal powers it can use to protect the people who use services run by the trust if it finds required progress has not been made. This warning sends a clear message that East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust needs to address these issues or face serious consequences.”
The February 2012 report was published shortly before the announcement by the CQC that its chief executive, Cynthia Bower, former chief executive of the NHS West Midlands' strategic health authority where she was responsible for supervising the performance of
Stafford hospital, has resigned.
Emma Jones, a lawyer in the Human Rights Department at Leigh Day & Co said:
"It is imperative that the CQC uses all its legal powers to ensure that Trusts take heed of the CQC’s warning and take all necessary steps to ensure that changes are made. We have seen all too often reports from the CQC relating to Trusts failing is aspects of care provided to elderly and vulnerable patients. Steps must be taken to ensure that all patients receive an appropriate standard of care to avoid further situations like that which arose at Stafford General Hospital."
Poor standards of care in hospitals
Human rights lawyers at Leigh Day have extensive experience in bringing claims of behalf of patients and their families who have received substandard or negligent care in hospitals. The team successfully settled hundreds of claims for compensation for the families of people who died unnecessarily in Stafford Hospital, and Emma Jones has recently been instructed by the families of patients who have received poor care at Alexandra Hospital, Redditch. If you would like to speak to one of our claims team please contact us on
020 7650 1200 for a friendly free initial consultation.
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