A non-executive director of the Care Quality Commission believes many NHS hospitals are still not safe, meaning patients’ lives are being put at risk.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Kay Sheldon said that the CQC is failing to push through the reforms that are needed in its role as the NHS’s official regulator of hospitals and care homes.

The CQC non-executive director said key reforms being planned are “too little, too late” and said she is worried that the system is now unsafe.

“The bottom line is that getting this wrong costs lives and this is what those leading CQC need to focus on, not about whether their actions embarrass the minister or damage the reputation of an organisation,” she said.

“I am worried that the regulator has been giving false assurances that hospitals are safe, when they are not, and that could mean patients are at risk, it could mean that they are harmed and it could mean that some die, when their deaths could have been prevented.”

Mrs Sheldon, who was a whistleblower about the CQC’s procedures to the public inquiry into Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, said senior managers at the CQC were guilty of “deceit and evasion” in refusing to be clear about its failings.

The CQC has powers to inspect facilities, order reforms and even close services if it thinks patient lives are being put at risk. However, it was at the centre of the criticism surrounding the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust.

In her role as non-executive director she is required to hold the body to account, but her latest statement comes after she refused to sign a gagging order in the wake of a bid to have her removed from the board by the former chairman.

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