Two strikes if you’re caught carrying acid
THE Urgent Care Centre (UCC) at St Mary’s Hospital has been placed into special measures after health watchdogs rated it inadequate.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found “a lack of clear management and clinical leadership” at the unit, which is run by Vocare Limited. It also said staff did not feel supported in their day-to-day roles at the walkin centre. The unit is run by Vocare completely independently of Impe- rial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the Paddington hospital and owns the UCC premises. Vocare said improvements had been made since the inspection and vowed to address issues raised.
Following the July 2017 inspection, the UCC was rated “inadequate” for being safe, effective and well-led, on Thursday October 5. It was rated as “requires improvement” for being caring and “good” for being respon- sive to people’s needs. The CQC found opportunities to prevent or minimise harm were missed as there was insufficient oversight and monitoring of ongoing incidents and risks.
There was insufficient attention to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and insufficient assurances to demonstrate people received effective care. Areas where improvements are needed include:
Ensuring care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
Ensuring sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons are deployed to meet the fundamental standards of care and treatment.
Ensure staff receive the appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal necessary.
Michele Golden, head of general practice inspection in London, ANYONE caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months under new government proposals.
The new “two strikes” rule will mirror the regime for those convicted of more than one knife possession offence and aim to counter the recent worrying spike in acid attacks.
Additionally, online retailers could face criminal proceedings if they deliver knives to a buyer’s home in a measure designed to clamp down on the sale of blades to children and teenagers.
It comes after the Metropolitan Police revealed 72 acid attacks were recorded in west London in the past three years. Hillingdon had the most acid attacks with 12, followed by Brent with 11.
After a flurry of high-profile incidents, the government announced plans earlier this month to create a new offence of possession of a corrosive substance in public without a good or lawful reason.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: “All forms of violent crime are totally unacceptable, which is why we are taking action to restrict access to offensive weapons and crack down on those who carry acids with the intent to do harm.”
The approach will be modelled on a system rolled out in 2015 for offenders repeatedly caught with knives.
The full Home Office consultation document revealed the proposed crackdown will also see those convicted for a second time face a manda- said the unit wold be inspected again within six months and that “if insufficient improvements have been made, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.”
A spokesman for the hospital trust said they were disappointed with the outcome of the inspection and would continue to work to address these urgent concerns. tory minimum sentence.
Minimum sentences were introduced for those aged 16 and over who are convicted of a second or subsequent offence of possession of a knife or offensive weapon.
The punishment is at least six months’ imprisonment, which can be suspended, for adults. Young offenders face a minimum four-month detention and training order.
Judges must impose the minimum sentence unless there are particular circumstances relating to the latest offence, the previous offence or the offender which would “make it unjust to do so in all the circumstances”.
The consultation document stated it is not intended that “corrosive substance” will be defined in legislation as the offence “must be flexible enough to cover a range of possible situations”.
A new offence to stop the sale of acids and the most harmful corrosive substances to under-18s is also being weighed up.
Police figures show there were 408 attacks using corrosive substances between November 2016 and April this year.
“The use of corrosive substances as a weapon is centuries old, but whilst the number of offences is relatively small, we are concerned about its increasing use as a weapon,” the document read.
The proposals relating to online sales of knives and possession and sales of corrosive substances apply to England, Wales and Scotland.
The proposals have faced criticism from shadow home secretary Diane Abbott who warned that “unless there are sufficient officers to enforce the law, new legislation will have a limited effect”.