CQC warns Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust that they must make improvements

11 September 2013

When the Care Quality Commission visited Amersham Hospital unannounced on 4 July 2013 we found that the service was failing to meet the national standards that people should be able to expect.

As a result, CQC has issued a formal warning to Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust telling them that they must improve in the following area by 30 September 2013:

• Regulation 22, (Outcome 13): Staffing
  The service was not taking appropriate steps to ensure that there were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff on duty at all times to meet people’s needs.

CQC inspectors will return unannounced in due course to check whether the required improvements have been made. Read the full report from the inspection in July 2013.

If the required improvements are not made within the set timescale, CQC has a range of enforcement powers which include restricting the services that a provider can offer, or, in the most serious cases, suspending or cancelling a service. CQC can also issue financial penalty notices and cautions, or prosecute the provider for failing to meet national standards.