The Care Quality Commission has told South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust that it must make further improvements to protect children and young people who may be at risk of harm.
In December 2015, following a comprehensive inspection, England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals had rated the trust as Requires Improvement. During this unannounced focussed inspection, on 27-28 July this year, the team looked specifically at the process for safeguarding children and young people at South Tyneside District Hospital.
The inspection report is available on the CQC website.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“When we comprehensively inspected the services run by South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust in 2015, we found that staff were universally committed to delivering compassionate person centred care to patients and this was reflected in the Outstanding rating awarded to the trust for caring services at the time.
“However we were worried about the trust’s ability to safeguard children and young people following a joint targeted area inspection earlier this year, which is why we returned for this focused inspection. I am disappointed that we saw little improvement in this area and have told the trust they have work to do.
“Although staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding children and young people, there were no effective systems or processes in place to support them in identifying and protecting those that might be at risk.
“We found limitations within the patient recording system in the emergency department, which meant there was a lack of information available to staff, and there was limited oversight of safeguarding at management level.
“These are areas which South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust must address to ensure that children and young people aren’t put at risk.”
Although staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding children and young people, the systems did not support staff to identify and protect those at risk.
The report identifies a number of areas for improvement, including:
- The trust must review the culture in the paediatric department and ensure that staff accountability, roles and responsibilities for safeguarding children are clear.
- Formal supervision processes for safeguarding children must be put in place in maternity, paediatrics and the emergency department.
- Training data must be accurate so that the trust is able to monitor by staff group those that have completed their safeguarding training.
- The trust must ensure processes are in place for reviewing those under 18 attending South Tyneside District Hospital to ensure all vulnerabilities and safeguarding risks are identified.
- Documentation must meet the requirements recommended by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
The report is based on a combination of the inspection findings and information from CQC’s Intelligent Monitoring system.
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For further information, please contact Kerri James, CQC Regional Engagement Communications Officer by email kerri.james@cqc.org.uk or by phone on 07464 92 9966.
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