Addenbrooke’s Hospital placed in special measures

After inspecting the trust’s two main sites, Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Rosie Hospital, the Care Quality Commission rated its services as being “inadequate” overall.

Clarence Lodge Care Home, in Gorleston; and Fenners Care Home, in Fersfield, near Diss, must all makes changes following visits from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In addition, “substantial” shortages of midwives were noted and lack of workforce planning which inspectors found had contributed to the maternity unit being closed 37 times between July 2013 and April 2015.

Frequently used as a form of pain relief during childbirth, high levels have been linked to unconsciousness or death if there is a lack of oxygen.

After his announcement, McNeil took the unusual step of criticising the CQC’s negative appraisal of the trust, branding it wrong. However, the only action taken was to advise staff to open windows where possible.

“Inspectors found that staff remained afraid to speak up or share concerns in case of repercussions”.

Across the entire trust, staff shortages meant there was not enough cover on wards, including critical care, and employees were moved around to make up shortfalls.

During the inspection, there was a backlog of 227 ophthalmology and 233 dermatology patients waiting for a call back and a total of 605 across all specialities.

Surgical services have also been under pressure, with routine operations regularly cancelled.

He said: “Everywhere across the country people would be very envious of the sort of results we get day in day out”.

Our Annual Members Meeting is a fantastic opportunity for local people to meet with staff from their local hospitals and learn more about the service improvements that have taken place over the past year.

Several senior managers – including the trust’s chief executive and the chief finance officer of Addenbrooke’s Hospital – resigned in advance of the report.

He added: “We were concerned that in some services, staff were caring for people in areas unfamiliar to them, meaning patient safety and welfare was placed at risk”.

Inspectors saw evidence that staffing levels across the Trust continued to impact on patient care.

We know that there are many factors that influence the number of complaints hospitals receive, such as organisational size, demographics and whether they actively encourage feedback from patients.

Special measures lasts until the regulator is satisfied that the hospital has carried out the required improvements.

This is done when this when a Trust isn’t providing the quality of care patients need or deserve, and where there is concern that the existing management can not fix the problems on their own.

“The care our staff provide has been rated as “outstanding” and we are very proud of them, and we continue to have a strong track record on safety, clinical excellence and introducing ground-breaking treatments”.

“Patients are less likely to die here, be harmed, or catch a hospital-acquired infection than at nearly any other trust in the country”.

Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust is the first organisation from the elite Shelford Group – the unofficial network of top 10 teaching hospitals – to be placed in special measures.

A team of CQC inspectors followed this up with an unannounced inspection in March 2015 – looking at progress in maternity services, outpatient and diagnostic imaging services, surgery and accident and emergency care.