Concerns Raised On 'Weak' NHS Trusts

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has raised doubts about 20 NHS trusts in England rated "weak" on quality, and a further 27 that have not been higher than "fair" for quality and Financial Management in the last four years.

The CQC said the trusts will face a tough challenge to meet requirements of the new registration system, which the CQC will introduce next year.

The assessment highlighted a drop in compliance with the core standard on child safeguarding down from 96.4% last year to 90.7% this year.

The proportion of cancelled operations rose for the second year in a row to almost one per cent. This equates to 63,000 operations cancelled at the last minute for non-clinical reasons.

Cynthia Bower, CQC Chief Executive, said: "The NHS has performed well on quality, which is good news in the face of a rigorous assessment.

"Those rated 'excellent' deserve to be commended – it is not easy to achieve this rating and missing just one standard could drop the score. Trusts rated 'good' have also performed strongly.

"But it is clear that some trusts are struggling and that some issues are proving tough nuts to crack. My biggest concern is those trusts that are ‘weak’ and persistently ‘weak’ or ‘fair’. They must do better for their patients.

"I want to ring the alarm bell in the boardrooms of these organisations. Next year, all trusts must register with us to legally function. It is clear that many have significant work to do and a short time in which to do it."

However, the CQC said the ratings also show big improvements for patients with more people seen in A&E within four hours, more receiving treatment within 18 weeks of referral, more screened for chlamydia and big reductions in MRSA & Clostridium difficile cases.

It also commended the significant improvement in ratings for financial management.

The CQC Published performance ratings for all 392 trusts in England.

(CD/BMcC)