CQC tells United Lincs to improve on dignity and workforce support

United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust was inspected in June after its former chief executive, Gary Walker, passed on concerns he said had been raised by managers and clinicians. These included doctors being asked to perform procedures beyond their competence and facing pressure to meet national targets at the expense of patient safety.

The CQC did not find evidence to support these claims but the trust was told to develop an action plan to address other areas where it failed to comply with standards.

These included patients waiting up to four hours in theatre recovery areas without toilets; and medication being left at bedsides without adequate assistance for patients. Additionally not all staff were clear what to do if they suspected a patient was being abused, or understood the needs of patients with learning disabilities, and not all staff had individual supervision or appraisals.

In a statement the trust said: “We have already begun work to address the areas where action needs to be taken. We are pleased that the CQC has recognised that patient safety is always the trust’s foremost priority and that we provide safe care to our patients.”

But Mr Walker, who is seeking to take the trust to an employment tribunal after he was sacked earlier this year, claimed the CQC had not involved those who had raised concerns and had not approached him for more details.

He said: “If this is the quality of CQC inspections then there is an urgent need, in the public interest, to hold an inquiry into the capability of the CQC. I have asked the secretary of state for health to personally intervene and am awaiting his response.”