Four foundation trusts on alert for hygiene failures

The trusts are among 21 organisations that have had conditions attached to their registration with the CQC, the new health and social care regulator which came into force last week.

Until improvements are made, governance risks will be rated amber at the four foundation trusts: Alder Hey Children’s, Kettering General Hospital, Leeds Partnerships, and Medway.

This is a downgrading for green-rated Alder Hey and Leeds Partnerships.

A Monitor spokeswoman said: “If the conditions of registration, as set out by the CQC, are not met within set time-scales, the trust will be in breach of its authorisation. Monitor will consider whether to take further regulatory action.”

Under scrutiny

The rating means Monitor, the foundation trust regulator, will scrutinise the trusts’ performance and review action plans. If performance does not improve in line with the action plan, Monitor can force the trust to “seek external advice”.

Monitor said it would consider whether failures indicate poor governance within the trust before taking any action.

In 13 of the 21 organisations with conditions, managers acknowledged they were not meeting hygiene standards and were already taking action.

But Isle of Wight primary care trust chief nurse Carol Alstrom was worried the conditions would be seen as meaning wards were dirty. The PCT was failing on ambulance cleaning plans and discharge procedures.

Ms Alstrom said: “It’s not about dirty wards. Our wards are clean. To be faced with that interpretation, when it’s actually about systems and processes that you haven’t quite got right, is heartbreaking.”

The other eight trusts were found to be repeatedly flouting infection control regulations, had high infection rates or were posing potential safety risks.

The CQC was not confident that these trusts had identified the improvements needed or would take prompt action.

One of the foundation trusts - Kettering General Hospital - falls into this category. It declined to comment.

The rest of the 388 registered trusts met all the standards.

Without registering, trusts are not licensed to provide services.

l This week the CQC has been forced to defend chief executive Cynthia Bower against criticism by the Conservatives of her role in the Mid Staffordshire foundation trust crisis.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said it was “impossible” to have confidence in Ms Bower without an independent inquiry into what went wrong at Stafford hospital.

The CQC said she was passionate, had years of experience and “is perfectly placed to lead our drive to improve services

on behalf of patients and the public”.

Trusts registered with conditions