CQC says more needs to be done at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

27 June 2012

Regulator finds some progress has been made following investigation– but still has serious concerns about A&E at Queen’s Hospital, Romford.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust has made improvements, but still has some way to go before it provides local people with the care they deserve – that’s the verdict of a series of reports published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) today.

These reports, published on the CQC website, include a follow up on the investigation which took place at the Trust last year, alongside five new compliance reports following unannounced inspections in different parts of the Trust. These reports look at A&E at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, maternity services at Queen’s and King George Hospital in Ilford, stroke rehabilitation and radiology services.

The progress report shows that, of the 81 recommendations made in the investigation report last October, 27 have been met and 48 partly met to date. Structures across the Trust have been changed as a result of CQC recommendations, although it is too early to say in many cases whether permanent improvements have been achieved.

While the Trust has made improvements, especially across maternity and radiology services, emergency care still remains a serious concern. More also needs to be done to improve staffing across the Trust. The Trust is struggling to deal with increased complaints, which may have been sparked by the CQC investigation.

Matthew Trainer, Deputy Director of CQC in London, said:

“The direction of travel at the Trust is encouraging but - as they acknowledge - they still have some way to go before they are consistently delivering the quality of care that local people are entitled to expect.

“While our report shows that improvements have been made, CQC still has concerns about the standard of A&E services, and also about the sustainability of some of the improvements.

“It is important to stress that the improvements at the Trust are a result of stronger working between stakeholders across the health and care sector.

“Demand on A&E services is an issue for a number of NHS trusts in London. While this does not detract from the problems at the Trust, this is a challenge on which commissioners and other stakeholders need to work together to find an answer.

”This report marks the end of CQC’s investigation into the Trust. Our role is to make sure essential standards of care are met and we will continue to carry out unannounced inspections to check this when we consider it necessary.”

Ends

For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9239 or out of hours on 07917 232143.

Notes to editors

Timeline of our activity on Barking, Havering, Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

• April 2010:BHRUT registered with CQC with eight conditions. Seven of these have since been removed; one (on maternity services) still remains.
• June - October 2010:Inspections to follow up on conditions, improvements required.
• January 2011:Inspections to check compliance regarding care and welfare and maternity staffing led to two warning notices being issued.
• March – April 2011:Inspections to check compliance regarding A&E services and general ward staffing led to two further warning notices being issued.
• July 2011:Investigation launched.
• July – August 2011: Fieldwork carried out for investigation.
• September – November 2011: Further inspections carried out to check compliance with warning notices and monitor progress in maternity services, A&E and general ward staffing. This included weekly visits to maternity services at Queen’s Hospital for 8 weeks.
• October 2011: Investigation report published.
• February 2012: Reports published on inspections in autumn 2011, still major concerns around care and welfare in maternity and A & E services, and moderate concerns around maternity staffing.
• March – April 2012: Five further inspections carried out, two in maternity services, one in A & E, one in stroke rehabilitation services and one in radiology.
• June 2012: Five compliance reports and investigation progress reports published.

The Trust had a history of poor performance under the previous regulatory framework, prior to CQC registration in April 2010. At the time of registration with CQC, the Trust had a high number of ‘conditions’ placed on it to mandate improvements in care. The 2011 investigation was designed to assess the systems and procedures the Trust had in place to ensure people were protected against the risk of inappropriate care and treatment. More details are available in the full investigation report (available on CQC’s website www.cqc.org.uk), which was published in October 2011 and updated with further sections in November 2011.