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CQC: Special measures hospital needs ‘drastic’ improvement

CQC: Special measures hospital needs ‘drastic’ improvement
20 March 2014



Drastic improvements are needed at a hospital which is already in special measures to bring safety and quality of care up to a national standard, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has announced. 
Concerning information on Tameside General Hospital was sent to the CQC, who made an unannounced inspection in January 2014. 
The hospital was failing to meet eight of the 11 national standards reviewed. 

Drastic improvements are needed at a hospital which is already in special measures to bring safety and quality of care up to a national standard, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has announced. 
Concerning information on Tameside General Hospital was sent to the CQC, who made an unannounced inspection in January 2014. 
The hospital was failing to meet eight of the 11 national standards reviewed. 
The CQC was concerned that some staff did not demonstrate an adequate understanding of the legal requirements of the Mental Health Act 1983 and Mental Capacity Act 2005 which meant, on occasion, consent to treatment had not been properly obtained on behalf of patients who lacked mental capacity. Inspectors also found one patient who had been detained unlawfully in the hospital for several days. 
In some areas, the planning and delivery of care did not meet patients' individual needs, for example the support provided to patients with mental health conditions in the Emergency Department, the CQC has said. 
Malcolm Bower-Brown, CQC’s Regional Director for the North said: “Although we were pleased to find improvement in some areas since our last inspection, our inspectors found a number of serious shortfalls against national standards. 
"We have told the Trust where further improvements must be made to ensure patients and their families receive the service they are entitled to expect. We will return shortly to check that the necessary changes have been made and can be sustained for the future.
“As this trust is currently in special measures and already subject to enforcement action by Monitor, we have also shared the findings of our inspection with Monitor and asked them to ensure the concerns we have identified are addressed as part of their overall improvement programme for the Trust.”

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