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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has this week published its first detailed reports following twelve unannounced inspections of NHS hospitals throughout the UK. The CQC states that the findings do not represent a complete picture of standards at all of the hospitals; simply a snapshot of conditions and quality of care on the day of the visit.
The first reports, available in full on the CQC website, flag up problems in three of the hospitals inspected so far. The NHS facilities failing to meet standards include the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust.
Problems at these hospitals relating to nutrition, dignity and respect included:
– Failures to assess and monitor the nutritional needs of patients, as well as not properly assisting those physically unable to eat by themselves
– Failure to provide people with enough to drink
– People not being involved in their own care, nor being treated or spoken to respectfully by staff
Six hospitals were able to satisfactorily meet all standards, whilst a further three raised less serious concerns. The hospitals where problems were found will now need to provide evidence of improvements that have been made (i.e. additional care training for staff) or face enforcement action.
The CQC will be carrying out inspections on a total of 100 NHS hospitals and a full report will be published in September.