PM’s local hospital warned by CQC over covid infection control

The Care Quality Commission announced it has issued the notice to The Hillingdon Hospitals FT today following an unannounced inspection in September.

It comes after the watchdog placed urgent conditions on the provider following a coronavirus outbreak among staff at Hillingdon Hospital in August. At least 70 members of staff had to isolate, some of whom had tested positive for covid.

The watchdog said it found there had been improvements, but that “further work is needed”.

The CQC’s inspection report, published today, said there were no staff changing rooms available for people to change in and out of their scrubs, and that they were sharing two small toilet cubicles at the start and end of shifts.

These were not cleaned with an “enhanced” cleaning schedule, it added, and the lack of separate changing rooms “caused a risk of cross-contamination”. However, senior leaders were aware of the risk and were seeking ways to improve access to changing areas for staff.

The CQC also said staff were fit-tested for masks and some were using respirator masks. They require filters which need to be changed monthly, and staff needed to sign to confirm they are responsible for changing it.

However, the regulator said there were “no management processes in place” for the filter changes and “no assurance staff followed the recommended maintenance”.

“This was not in line with the Health and Safety Executive guidelines,” the report added.

Nigel Acheson, the CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals, said: “On our return to The Hillingdon Hospital’s emergency department, we were encouraged to see some of the improvements we had already identified now in place. However, inspectors also found a number of new risks where improvements were required.

“In August we took action to drive improvement in infection control practices in the emergency department and the wider trust, by imposing urgent conditions. The trust leadership have provided an action plan and regular updates on how this is progressing.

“We did, however, identify new risks at this inspection and, as a result, we issued the trust with a further warning notice. This is to ensure they continue to concentrate on the improvements needed and ensure they are thoroughly embedded and able to be sustained.

“The leadership team are aware of the actions they need to take, and we will continue to monitor progress closely, and inspect again to check the necessary improvements have been made.”

THHFT has since appointed their previously interim chief executive on a permanent basis following her predecessor’s resignation in August.

The Hillingdon Hospital, which is among the upcoming hospital rebuilds announced by prime minister Boris Johnson, is currently rated “inadequate” by the CQC.

A THHFT spokesman told HSJ: “As the CQC recognises, we have already made several improvements to infection prevention control since September, and staff are continuing to strengthen the measures that are in place.”