CQC tells Barts Health NHS Trust that it must improve patient care and support given to staff at the Royal London Hospital

4 September 2013

The Care Quality Commission has told Barts Health NHS Trust that it needs to improve the care it provides to patients and the support it provides to staff at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

CQC has told the trust to improve following an unannounced inspection of the hospital’s maternity services and elderly care wards in June at which it was found to be failing to meet five of the seven national standards checked.

The inspection team included two specialist advisors (CQC’s National Professional Advisor on Maternity, Rona McCandlish, and a tissue viability specialist) and an expert by experience (a member of the public with experience of using services). A full report from this inspection, giving more details of findings, has been published on the CQC website today.

Among CQC’s findings:

• In maternity services, inspectors found that while most mothers were experiencing care that met their needs, staff didn’t always treat mothers with dignity and respect or respect their privacy. There were not always enough suitably skilled and experienced staff to meet the needs of mothers and babies, and staff didn’t always feel supported by senior management.
• In elderly care, patients did not always receive appropriate care and treatment. Care plans were not always updated when care needs changed, for example, when they developed pressure sores. Patients were at risk of being discharged from hospital without appropriate ongoing support in place. Staff told inspectors that staff shortages left them struggling to maintain basic care standards, and staff didn’t always receive appropriate professional supervision.

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

“When our inspectors visited the Royal London Hospital we identified that some pretty basic things were not happening as they should. Staff were not always treating people with the dignity and respect that they deserved, and privacy was also a problem. We found that care plans were not always fit for purpose, and that staff were not being effectively supported to perform their roles.

“Our inspectors saw some of the staff in the maternity department using disrespectful language about the women they were caring for, and also heard personal information discussed in a relatively public space in the department. When you go into a hospital for any form of care of treatment you are entitled to be treated with respect and that was lacking in what we saw.

“It’s really disappointing that we’ve identified some of the same issues here as we have elsewhere in this trust. This is why the in depth inspection of the trust later this year – led by CQC’s new Chief Inspector of Hospitals – is so important in identifying the cause of what seems to be some overarching issues of leadership and governance.

“Patients are entitled to be treated in services which are safe, effective, caring, well run, and responsive to their needs. Our inspectors will return unannounced in response to the action plan supplied by the trust to check that the required changes have been made.”

Ends

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

Notes to editors

Inspectors found that Barts Health NHS Trust was failing to meet five standards at the Royal London Hospital:

• Respecting and involving people
• Care and welfare of people
• Cooperating with other providers
• Staffing

Two standards checked at this inspection were being met:

• Assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision
• Complaints

Read the full report here.