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
News‘Inadequate’ provider threatens CQC with legal action
A patient transport company rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission has said it is taking legal action against the watchdog because it claims the judgement was based on factual inaccuracies and inspectors “going rogue”.
NewsCQC still facing ‘pervasive’ concerns and ‘deep wariness’
Lack of trust in the Care Quality Commission is “pervasive and deeply felt” and there is widespread criticism of its inspectors, according to a major consultation.
HSJ LocalInquiry trust CEO quits to join neighbour
The chief executive of a mental health trust subject to a statutory inquiry into more than 2,000 deaths is leaving for a role at a neighbouring acute trust.
NewsFour trusts rated ‘red’ on baby deaths
Four hospital trusts have been assessed as having higher than expected rates of both stillbirth and neonatal deaths, according to HSJ analysis of a national safety audit.
NewsA&E performance recovery lauded by NHSE ‘may not be real’
The “substantial improvements” in a trust’s A&E performance praised by NHS England directors “may not be real” according to a paper prepared by its local health and care partnership.
NewsMaternity taskforce ‘missing integral expertise’
“Integral” expertise is missing from Wes Streeting’s new maternity taskforce, a royal college has said, after no anaesthetists were included in the core group set up to tackle ongoing failures in care.
HSJ LocalEx-national director to lead £1.7bn acute trust
A major hospital trust battling serious performance problems has recruited its new chief executive from a neighbouring provider.
NewsStreeting admits another cut to mental health spend share
The proportion of the NHS budget spent on mental healthcare will be cut for the third year in a row, the health secretary has admitted.
NewsCQC considered bypassing ministers to hire new chief
The Care Quality Commission considered recruiting a replacement for Sir Julian Hartley without government approval because of a four-month delay in getting it signed off, one of its non-executive directors told a board meeting.
NewsOckenden to lead inquiry into third trust
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden has been appointed chair of the independent inquiry into maternity failures in Leeds, health and social care secretary Wes Streeting has announced.
HSJ LocalNearly 300 patients to be moved from ‘unacceptable’ hospital
NHS England has ordered the removal of nearly 300 patients from a mental health provider’s flagship hospital amid major safety concerns and a police probe.
NewsNHSE culture change programme failed, says external review
An NHS England programme designed to improve leadership behaviours and culture in maternity departments following high-profile scandals failed to achieve its aims, an external review has concluded.
NewsDash claims NHSE ‘very reluctant’ to tell local leaders what to do
The chair of NHS England has told a patient safety event that the national body is “trying to avoid” telling every part of the country how to work.
NewsNHSE warns coroners about relying on trusts’ safety reports
Coroners should not rely on trusts’ safety reports as primary or sole evidence for an inquest, NHS England has said, amid concerns some deaths deemed “avoidable” are not even being investigated under the national safety framework.
NewsMerging watchdog into CQC will ‘destroy’ independence
The influential MP who first proposed setting up a safety investigations watchdog for the NHS has warned health and social care secretary Wes Streeting that merging the body into the Care Quality Commission would be “fundamentally wrong”.
NewsFamilies fear ‘cycle of diagnosis without delivery’ over maternity review
Poor accountability and familiar systemic failures were highlighted in the latest report from the government’s “rapid” maternity review – leading bereaved families to warn against it becoming “another cycle of diagnosis without delivery”.
NewsRevealed: The trusts with ‘unacceptable’ outcomes for Black and low-income women
The trusts where Black women and those from the most deprived communities are facing “unacceptable” disparities in outcomes against a range of maternal care metrics have been identified in a new NHS England dashboard.
HSJ LocalInquiry examining thousands of deaths will not report until 2028
A high-profile inquiry into mental health deaths will not be complete until at least 2028, after its chair announced a delay to its timeline.
NewsFive trusts ‘high outliers’ for ‘largely preventable’ infections
Five trusts with unusually high levels of surgical infections, which experts called “largely preventable” harm, have been identified by the UK’s health security agency.
NewsHigh risk service paused dozens of times at ‘inadequate’ unit
A service offering elective caesarean sections for women considered “high risk” and unable to labour was paused 32 times, according to inspectors who have rated the department “inadequate” for the second time in a row.