Hospital ‘must improve safety’
CQC INSPECTORS ISSUE STRICT ORDERS AFTER CONCERNS OVER INFECTION CONTROL
STRICT orders have been handed down to Hillingdon Hospital bosses forcing them to make “immediate improvements” over safety, following the coronavirus outbreak in July.
Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) - the top health watchdog - used urgent enforcement powers to place conditions on the trust managing the hospital to carry out changes over infection control.
The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust declared a coronavirus outbreak on July 3 and revealed that 70 staff members were self-isolating due to the incident. It was confirmed some had tested positive for the virus.
The London Ambulance Service was also forced to divert patients to alternative A&E hospitals, but hospital bosses insisted the site was safe to visit and remained open.
CQC bosses inspected the Pield Heath Road site the following month, on August 4 and 5, to investigate how the hospital is dealing with the pandemic.
It was announced on August 14 that the trust’s chief Sarah Tedford had quit from the top NHS posting with immediate effect, for family reasons.
Dr Nigel Acheson, CQC’s deputy chief hospitals inspector, said: “People using services at The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are entitled to services that are safe, effective, caring and responsive. We found a number of concerns relating to infection control and this is why we have taken action to ensure the safety of patients, staff and visitors.
“We have imposed urgent conditions upon the trust’s registration and expect The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to focus on making the required improvements as a matter of priority.
“We will return to inspect and ensure that action has been taken and that improvements have been made and are being sustained.”
Trusts must be registered with the CQC by law to provide care. The watchdog has a range of powers to hold providers to account and ensure unacceptable levels of care are improved.
Action ranges from warning notices, imposing conditions, to imposing fines and prosecuting cases.
The conditions placed on Hillingdon Hospital’s trust include to ensure social distancing of both staff and patients, making personal protective equipment (PPE) easy to access and that staff wear PPE before going into “high risk areas”.
Care plans for patients must address coronavirus and the trust must give the CQC all details and records of staff being tested for the virus and being fit to work.
This includes copies of test results that have been repeated and what was done if any staff member failed a retest.
Risk assessments must be completed for all areas of the hospital to stop infection spread and the trust must share a written infection prevention and control action plan with the CQC.
Bosses must also report to the CQC every week updating the progress on the plan.
A full report on the inspection findings are expected to be published at a later date.
A follow-up inspection date is also yet to be confirmed.
A Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said following the unannounced inspection to Hillingdon Hospital, bosses have taken immediate action to improve safety.
They added: “The safety and wellbeing of our patients and of our staff must be at the heart of everything we do and we are making urgent improvements to ensure this – particularly in infection prevention and control.
“We have made physical changes to our building to support better social distancing and we have reviewed our procedures to make sure they are robust.
“We are working with national organisations to receive additional support and are regularly updating them on our progress.
“We want to assure our staff, patients and the wider community of our commitment to their safety and well-being.”