Emily Townsend
Emily Townsend joined HSJ in 2021, and writes about patient safety and care quality nationally, including maternity services and regulators such as the CQC. She was named specialist journalist of the year at the 2024 British Journalism Awards.
Contact info
- Tel:
- 020 3812 5326
- Email:
- emily.townsend@hsj.co.uk
NewsCQC chief faces ‘inherent conflict’
The chief executive of the Care Quality Commission is set to become responsible for deciding whether to remove “safe space” protection from whistleblowers’ information, which a former health minister has called an “inherent conflict”.
News‘Catastrophic outcomes’ threat from ‘inappropriate’ maternity tools
Hospitals are persisting with using variable methods and tools to measure the growth of unborn babies, which experts say is leading to avoidable deaths, HSJ can reveal.
HSJ LocalCEO admits underestimating requirements of deaths inquiry
A trust has been slow to provide records to an inquiry examining more than 2,000 deaths, because it underestimated the resources needed, its former CEO has admitted.
NewsMinisters remove adviser from national taskforce over ‘conflict of interest’
A medical adviser to the national maternity and neonatal taskforce has been asked to leave by ministers after they recognised “the depth of family concern” about his appointment.
NewsGovernment picks CQC chair without competition
The government has revealed its preferred candidate to be the next chair of the Care Quality Commission, as a cross-bench peer who has overseen major national healthcare reviews.
NewsMackey issues 10-point ‘urgent’ maternity plan
The CEO of NHS England has ordered trust boards to enforce joint accountability for maternity between medical directors and chief nursing officers, following criticisms of “siloed” leadership in major reviews.
News‘Normal birth’ harms should not be ‘airbrushed away’, warns expert
An expert who resigned from the national maternity review in a dispute over its stance on “normal birth” ideology has warned that misuse of such an approach and its impact on patient safety “should not be airbrushed away”.
NewsNew maternity inspection ‘unit’ demanded by government review
Ministers should create a new specialist unit to assess maternity services because the Care Quality Commission does not have the credibility to do so, a government review has concluded.
NewsExclusive: Maternity adviser quits in ‘normal birth’ dispute
The chair of several high-profile safety inquiries has resigned from the government’s national maternity review just ahead of publication, in a dispute over “normal birth ideology”, HSJ can reveal.
NewsUpdated: Nottingham families slam ‘abhorrent’ NHS leadership as execs threatened with prison
Families affected by the Nottingham maternity scandal have hit out at the “abhorrent” leadership of “senior staff” as the government revealed that staff who refuse to engage with future investigations could be sent to prison for up to two years.
NewsNational quality strategy facing ‘ministerial pushback’
Serious concerns have been raised that the delayed NHS “quality strategy” does not “prioritise patient safety”, HSJ has discovered.
NewsArrests made at maternity inquiry trust
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in connection with operating practices at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust’s mortuary service, police have revealed.
NewsPublic inquiry into maternity being considered by DHSC
Current inquiries into care failures lack teeth, and such a gap could be filled by a public inquiry, the government’s new national maternity adviser has revealed.
NewsTrust fined £320k over hospital infection death
The Care Quality Commission has imposed a £324,143 fine on a trust where a chemotherapy patient contracted a serious infection from bacteria in a ward’s en-suite bathroom and later died.
NewsBereaved families raise alarm about trust’s leadership churn
Bereaved parents have raised concerns about the departure of a major trust’s medical director, just as an independent inquiry into its maternity services is getting started.
HSJ LocalLong-serving deputy appointed acute trust’s CEO
An acute trust’s deputy chief executive has been appointed its next CEO, following a decade serving on the board.
NewsDeaths inquiry left trust unprepared for CQC inspection
A trust has claimed it was left unprepared for an unannounced Care Quality Commission inspection because of the demands of an inquiry into historic care failures.
NewsExclusive: CQC’s ‘ridiculous’ inspections without clinical input
The Care Quality Commission has been accused of undertaking “ridiculous” inspections without clinical input which have put patients at risk, HSJ can reveal.
NewsCQC gets caretaker chair after ‘regrettable’ delay
An interim chair has been appointed to the Care Quality Commission, which has bemoaned a “regrettable” delay in recruiting a permanent successor.
HSJ LocalRevealed: 33,000 patients had data stolen in trust cyber attack
A hospital provider has admitted that confidential patient information relating to almost 33,000 of its patients was stolen and shared on the dark web, two years after the cyberattack took place.