Latest news with #CareQualityCommission
Daily Mail
15 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
'Bonfire of the health quangos': Health secretary Wes Streeting vows to axe NHS groups employing 7,000 staff to cut wasteful spending and bureaucracy
Hundreds of NHS quangos employing 7,000 staff will be axed or merged under plans to cut wasteful spending and bureaucracy. Wes Streeting aims to simplify regulation, which has failed to prevent tragedies or drive improvements. As well as the Health Secretary creating clearer lines of accountability, the public will be asked to flag emerging issues by submitting reviews after each appointment through the NHS App. The scores and comments will be used to help officials to identify poorly performing providers. Responses will also be made publicly available, so that patients can decide where to have treatment. There are currently 150 regulatory bodies assessing care quality and providing guidelines to staff. But the Department of Health and Social Care describes the number of recommendations issued as 'overwhelming'. It means managers and frontline workers risk missing critical information, leading to repeated failings in care homes, hospitals and GP surgeries. The Government will abolish many of those organisations – including the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, the National Guardian's Office and Healthwatch England. It will also close Commissioning Support Units and abolish Integrated Care Partnerships. In total, Mr Streeting's 'bonfire of NHS quangos' will abolish 201 bodies, with budgets of more than a quarter-of-a-billion pounds. The Care Quality Commission will take responsibility for overseeing safety, while the National Quality Board will provide a single set of care quality standards. It comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced earlier this year that he plans to abolish NHS England, with its work moved in to the Department of Health and Social Care. Details of the further cuts will be unveiled as part of Labour's Ten Year Health Plan, to be published later this week. The move has been shaped by the findings of a review into patient safety by Dr Penny Dash, the chairman of NHS England. Mr Streeting told the Daily Mail: 'Over the past decade and a half, an overly complex system of healthcare regulation has been left to spiral out of control. Our Ten Year Health Plan will tear through this tangled web of bureaucracy, cut wasteful spending and reinvest the savings in frontline care. 'Our reforms will cut unnecessary bureaucracy, and liberate staff to deliver safe, timely care for patients.' Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: 'Protecting patients has to be the priority and not just a drive for efficiency.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Yeovil Hospital children's services rated 'inadequate'
Children being treated at Yeovil District Hospital are not being kept safe, according to government inspectors. The Care Quality Commission has published a report following an inspection in January, and rated children and young people's services as "inadequate". The inspection led to a warning notice being issued and the temporary closure of the special care baby unit (SCBU) and birthing services at the hospital in May, due to a shortage of paediatric doctors. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said it was "working hard to address the safety, quality and fragility of the paediatric service" at a "very challenging time". More news stories for Somerset Listen to the latest news for Somerset Inspectors said they found "low morale" among medical staff who said they felt "exhausted" and "overwhelmed" with their workloads. The report also said there was a "recurring theme that parents did not feel listened to and staff did not communicate with them". A major issue was that the paediatrics service did not have enough doctors, inspectors said. One mum, who lives in Yeovil but wanted to stay anonymous, said her one-year-old son spent three nights on the hospital's children's ward earlier this month, being treated for suspected sepsis. She said she had a "really positive experience" on the ward but there were delays in a doctor reviewing her son in the last 48 hours of his stay. She said she was told this was due to staff shortages and the doctor needing to remain in the emergency department. Inspectors found there was just one registrar doctor covering all three paediatric areas after 5pm. These were the children's ward, the emergency department (ED) and the maternity ward and SCBU which were "a significant distance away from each other", inspectors said. The children's ward and ED are seven floors apart and inspectors found the lifts were very slow. Maternity and SCBU were in a separate building from the other services. This "geographical spread and lack of medical staff" led to a "risk of delays to the triage and treatment of children" according to the CQC report. The CQC report also said not every child who was admitted to the children's ward with an acute medical problem was seen by one of the most senior doctors, a consultant paediatrician, within 14 hours of admission, as national standards stipulate. Staff told inspectors there was often just one consultant-led handover in 24 hours - guidelines say at least two should take place. This meant some children staying in hospital longer than needed, as they couldn't be discharged through the handover process. Attempts by the hospital to recruit the two more consultants, which were needed, had been unsuccessful. Inspectors did find there were enough paediatric nurses. There were some positive findings including around the children's mental health service, infection control and cleanliness. In total Yeovil Hospital's children's services were in breach of six legal regulations including staffing, mandatory training and good governance. Inspectors also visited the children's services at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, run by the same NHS trust, which were rated good. Lucy Bateman, from Chard, said she no longer chooses to use Yeovil Hospital since her daughter experienced poor care after being taken in "severely dehydrated" by ambulance a few years ago. She said they were left in a "very, very overcrowded waiting room" with just a syringe and some water for hours, before being told doctors were "too busy with an emergency" to see her daughter and they "might as well just go home". Ms Bateman said she took her daughter to Musgrove Park hospital the next day and her experience was "like night and day". "I was reassured that I wasn't overreacting, Molly was taken care of and everything worked out very well, but now I would always go straight to Musgrove," she said. Peter Lewis, chief executive of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This is a very challenging time, but we are confident that we can build a stronger, more sustainable service for babies, children and young people in Somerset." Mr Lewis said the trust was trying to recruit more senior paediatricians and looking at what it could learn from other hospitals. The trust has promised a formal review of the temporary closures, which began in May, after three and six months. Catherine Campbell, CQC deputy director for operations in the south, said: "Trust leaders understand what must change. The warning notice we've issued will help focus attention on the areas needing urgent and sustained improvement. "We'll continue to monitor these services closely to ensure progress and to keep children and young people safe." Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Sickness and bullying closes maternity unit, MP says Hundreds protest closure of maternity unit Pregnant women 'shocked' at maternity unit closure Maternity unit closure could last more than six months Temporary closure for maternity unit after warning
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
Yeovil District Hospital children's service rated 'inadequate'
Children being treated at Yeovil District Hospital are not being kept safe, according to government Care Quality Commission has published a report following an inspection in January, and rated children and young people's services as "inadequate".The inspection led to a warning notice being issued and the temporary closure of the special care baby unit (SCBU) and birthing services at the hospital in May, due to a shortage of paediatric NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said it was "working hard to address the safety, quality and fragility of the paediatric service" at a "very challenging time". Inspectors said they found "low morale" among medical staff who said they felt "exhausted" and "overwhelmed" with their report also said there was a "recurring theme that parents did not feel listened to and staff did not communicate with them".A major issue was that the paediatrics service did not have enough doctors, inspectors mum, who lives in Yeovil but wanted to stay anonymous, said her one-year-old son spent three nights on the hospital's children's ward earlier this month, being treated for suspected said she had a "really positive experience" on the ward but there were delays in a doctor reviewing her son in the last 48 hours of his said she was told this was due to staff shortages and the doctor needing to remain in the emergency department. Inspectors found there was just one registrar doctor covering all three paediatric areas after were the children's ward, the emergency department (ED) and the maternity ward and SCBU which were "a significant distance away from each other", inspectors children's ward and ED are seven floors apart and inspectors found the lifts were very and SCBU were in a separate building from the other "geographical spread and lack of medical staff" led to a "risk of delays to the triage and treatment of children" according to the CQC CQC report also said not every child who was admitted to the children's ward with an acute medical problem was seen by one of the most senior doctors, a consultant paediatrician, within 14 hours of admission, as national standards told inspectors there was often just one consultant-led handover in 24 hours - guidelines say at least two should take meant some children staying in hospital longer than needed, as they couldn't be discharged through the handover by the hospital to recruit the two more consultants, which were needed, had been did find there were enough paediatric were some positive findings including around the children's mental health service, infection control and total Yeovil Hospital's children's services were in breach of six legal regulations including staffing, mandatory training and good governance. Inspectors also visited the children's services at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, run by the same NHS trust, which were rated Bateman, from Chard, said she no longer chooses to use Yeovil Hospital since her daughter experienced poor care after being taken in "severely dehydrated" by ambulance a few years said they were left in a "very, very overcrowded waiting room" with just a syringe and some water for hours, before being told doctors were "too busy with an emergency" to see her daughter and they "might as well just go home".Ms Bateman said she took her daughter to Musgrove Park hospital the next day and her experience was "like night and day"."I was reassured that I wasn't overreacting, Molly was taken care of and everything worked out very well, but now I would always go straight to Musgrove," she said. Peter Lewis, chief executive of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This is a very challenging time, but we are confident that we can build a stronger, more sustainable service for babies, children and young people in Somerset."Mr Lewis said the trust was trying to recruit more senior paediatricians and looking at what it could learn from other trust has promised a formal review of the temporary closures, which began in May, after three and six Campbell, CQC deputy director for operations in the south, said: "Trust leaders understand what must change. The warning notice we've issued will help focus attention on the areas needing urgent and sustained improvement. "We'll continue to monitor these services closely to ensure progress and to keep children and young people safe."
BBC News
3 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Inspectors find 'widespread failings' in Torbay SEND service
Significant concerns have been raised by inspectors over special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services in part of Devon.A report published on Wednesday by regulator Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission into the Torbay SEND local area partnership highlighted "widespread and/or systemic failings".Issues raised by the report included too many children and young people with SEND issues having to wait an "unacceptable time" to have their needs Council and NHS Devon, which are responsible for running services, said they were committed to addressing the issues raised by the report. 'Long-standing issues' The inspection, which was carried out in March, said those responsible for governance did not have an "accurate understanding" of the partnership's strategic SEND priorities."The resulting lack of strategic working and effective joint commissioning has resulted in poor communication and collaboration between the local area partnership and families," the report added leaders had not urgently of effectively addressed systemic and significant weaknesses highlighted in a previous inspection in report said: "Many long-standing issues, particularly the waiting times for assessment and diagnosis, parental dissatisfaction and the high proportion of children and young people with SEND being excluded and becoming NEET [not in education, employment or training], have remained unresolved issues."A monitoring inspection was set to be carried out within the next 18 months before a full reinspection in three years, the report partnership has been asked to prepare a priority action plan to address issues identified in the report, inspectors added. In a joint statement, Torbay Council and Nancy Meehan, director of children's services, and Su Smart, director of women and children's improvement at NHS Devon, said improvement work was already under said a number of areas were highlighted in the report as "doing well", including the work of the Mental Health in Schools Team, the strength of a neurodiversity support programme and early years statement added the partnership was committed to addressing the issues and called for "systemic reform at the national level" to help with meaningful and lasting statement said: "We are committed to ongoing improvement across all SEND provision and will continue to work with parents, carers and practitioners to develop and strengthen it."Our priority remains the wellbeing and success of our children and young people."The BBC has contacted the Department for Health and Social Care for comment.
Rhyl Journal
3 days ago
- Health
- Rhyl Journal
Watchdog acted ‘irrationally' in registering private gender clinic, court told
Former nurse Susan Evans and a mother known as XX are taking legal action against the Care Quality Commission (CQC) over its decision to register the Gender Plus Hormone Clinic (GPHC) in Birmingham in January last year. The two are also challenging the regulator's decision to continue the clinic's registration and to allow it to prescribe cross-sex hormone treatment to 16 and 17-year-olds without conditions, made last December. The clinic, which was rated outstanding by the watchdog last year, treats people aged 16 and older, including through prescribing gender-affirming – masculinising or feminising – hormones, but, in line with the NHS, does not prescribe puberty blockers. Lawyers representing the two women told a hearing on Tuesday that the watchdog did not consider aspects that were 'obviously material' when making its decision, including the NHS's stance on hormone treatment for children aged 16 and 17 in light of the Cass Review. The watchdog is defending the claim, telling the court that it was 'abundantly clear that there was ample evidence' for its decision, while lawyers for the company which runs the clinic, Gender Plus Healthcare Limited, said the legal action was 'fatally flawed'. Opening the women's case on Tuesday, barrister Tom Cross KC said the clinic was believed to be the only hormone treatment provider to 16 and 17-year-olds in England, and that the claimants' concern was about safety, with Ms Evans previously stating she believed the registration 'creates a significant risk of a two-tier approach'. Mr Cross said: 'At arriving at the conclusion that the provider should continue to be registered without any conditions … the CQC has acted irrationally.' He added: 'It has not factored into its conclusion a number of aspects of the process on the NHS, informed by the Cass Review, which serve as important safeguards for children within the cohort and were obviously material.' The barrister said that had the CQC factored these in, it would have 'decided to exercise its power to halt the treatment' of under-18s, and that its decision was 'simply not open to them'. He claimed that 'at the very least' the court 'should require the CQC to think again about the adequacy of the safeguards'. Hormone treatment was previously provided on the NHS at the now-closed Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, where Ms Evans previously worked. But a review published by Baroness Cass in April last year said that 'extreme caution' should be demonstrated when deciding to prescribe the treatment to 16 and 17-year-olds, and that there should be 'clear clinical rationale for providing hormones at this stage rather than waiting until an individual reaches 18'. The NHS has opened three specialist children's gender clinics and has plans for a further five covering the seven NHS regions in England by the end of 2026, but has said that all recommendations for hormone interventions must be endorsed by a national multi-disciplinary team (MDT). It is understood that the MDT has not yet received any recommendations for hormone treatment for 16 and 17-year-olds, since the Cass Review. GPHC was set up by Dr Aidan Kelly and is led by nurse consultant Paul Carruthers, who both worked at Gids, and has previously said it primarily treats patients aged between 16 and 25, using its own MDT. But Mr Cross said in written submissions that in the year up to June 2024, GPHC has 'accepted almost every single patient that it considered' for hormone treatment, and that the contrast with the NHS 'could not be more stark'. He said there were 'a number of key differences' between GPHC and the NHS safeguards, including that referrals to the former came from Dr Kelly's company, Kelly Psychology, which is unregulated. He said: 'It is, and ought to have been, obvious that the unregulated nature of the referrer enhanced the risk of patient safety.' He concluded: 'Either the CQC had to impose a condition which rationally ensured patient safety, or, if that were not possible, had to decide not to continue the registration.' Jamie Burton KC, for the CQC, said that there was 'ample evidence' that Kelly Psychology 'did not pose an unacceptable risk' to patients, and that a 'significant number' of those assessed by the company were not referred for treatment at GPHC. The court was told that the CQC found no evidence of 'improper decision making or anything that might flag a concern', and that the clinic was found to be 'committed to the safety and best interests of its patients'. He continued: 'CQC found GHPC to be acting in line with national guidance, including the NHS England 2024 Criteria. 'It found nothing to suggest that this was merely lip service or that GPHC management held an ideological commitment that was undermining its professional and regulatory commitments, or otherwise threatening the safety of patients.' He also said that the CQC 'had regard' to NHS processes, and that there could not be 'any legitimate doubt about the correctness of the ultimate outcome, or GPHC's continued registration'. He said: 'In its professional judgment, it found that the provider was taking reasonable steps to safeguard 16 and 17-year-olds by way of its existing processes.' Peter Mant KC, for Gender Plus Healthcare Limited, said that there was no legal requirement for a private provider to mirror NHS care and that the claimants' concerns 'do not have a high-quality evidence base'. He continued that the clinic's model was 'entirely consistent' with the Cass Review and NHS policy, and that patients 'no longer routinely have any input' from Kelly Psychology. He added that concerns related to the rate of accepting new patients were 'unjustified', and that the court should not 'go behind' the CQC's decision. The hearing before Mrs Justice Eady is expected to conclude on Wednesday, with a judgment expected in writing at a later date.
