NHS trust that treated Valdo Calocane to be subject of special review

CQC will conduct review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare in tandem with mental health homicide review

A troubled NHS trust that treated Valdo Calocane for paranoid schizophrenia before he killed three people in Nottingham last year is to be the subject of a special review.

Ministers said the review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare foundation trust would help provide answers to the families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, who were killed by Calocane last June.

Continue reading...

Norfolk care home accused of waking residents with loud music to save money

Staff at Iceni Care Home say vulnerable residents were treated as if they were ‘on a farm’ to reduce workload

Care workers at a private care home forced dementia sufferers out of bed as early as 5am and woke them by blasting loud radio music to save money, whistleblowers have alleged.

The management of Iceni Care Home in Swaffham, Norfolk, received repeated complaints about the practice this summer, as concerned staff said vulnerable residents were being treated as if they were “on a farm” in order to reduce the workload on daycare staff.

Continue reading...

Two in five inpatients in England report health decline while on NHS waiting list

New CQC report also finds growing number of patients think there are too few nurses to care for them

Two in five people admitted to hospital for planned care in England last year had their health worsen while they were on the NHS waiting list, a major survey reveals.

The finding emerged in a new report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that also found that growing numbers of patients think there are too few nurses on duty to care for them.

39% of patients would like to have been admitted sooner.

Almost one in five (18%) felt they waited “far too long” to get a bed once they had been admitted – a big rise on the 8% who said that in 2020.

Only 52% thought there were always enough nurses on duty.

Discharge was often unsatisfactory for patients, with only 48% given enough notice about when they would leave and only 45% told how their post-hospital care would happen.

Hospital care was less good than before Covid struck in 2020, patients said.

Continue reading...

Two-thirds of sexual assault support centres in England branded inadequate

Inspectors find failures to protect victims and risks of contaminating forensic evidence

More than two-thirds of England’s specialist support centres for victims of sexual assault or abuse have been found to have flaws in the care they offer in their most recent full inspections, the Observer can reveal.

Almost half were found to be breaching their minimum legal obligations to victims in their last full inspection, with problems ranging from a failure to deal with suicide and self-harm risks, cleaning so bad it risked contaminating forensic evidence collected for criminal cases, and failures to do adequate background checks on the staff working with victims.

Continue reading...

Revealed: how hidden delays blight cancer care in England and Wales

Watchdog warns that admin errors, unexplained cancellations and delayed scan reports all contribute to longer waits for patients

Patients with suspected cancer are waiting months for diagnosis because of hidden waiting lists or falling into a “black hole” after referral, England’s patient champion warns this weekend.

Admin errors, unexplained cancellations and delayed scan reports are among factors contributing to longer waits, according to Healthwatch England, a committee of the Care Quality Commission.

Continue reading...

Data on Covid care home deaths kept secret ‘to protect commercial interests’

Exclusive: English and Scottish regulators refuse to reveal homes with most fatalities

Covid-19 death tolls at individual care homes are being kept secret by regulators in part to protect providers’ commercial interests before a possible second coronavirus surge, the Guardian can reveal.

England’s Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland are refusing to make public which homes or providers recorded the most fatalities amid fears it could undermine the UK’s care system, which relies on private operators.

Continue reading...

New inpatients banned at mental health unit rated unsafe

Damning CQC report on private Cygnet Acer clinic where patients could self harm and one died by hanging

A privately run mental health unit has been banned from admitting new patients after inspectors found numerous safety failings, one of which led to a resident dying by hanging.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has stopped the Cygnet Acer Clinic, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, from accepting new inpatients. It declared that the facility was “not safe” for people to use.

Continue reading...