This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Addenbrooke’s hospital placed in special measures
The hospital is one of the biggest and most prestigious in the UK, and was renowned for excellence in organ transplant.
While staff were praised by inspectors for going the extra mile for patients, with the quality of care rated as ‘outstanding’, serious concerns were raised regarding staffing levels, delays in outpatient treatment and governance failings.
The hospital is part of the Cambridge University Hospitals Trust, one of the largest in the UK. The trust’s chief executive Keith McNeil stepped down suddenly last week citing ‘a number of very serious challenges’, along with the chief finance officer Paul James, who also left ahead of the CQC’s report.
The Trust's chairwoman Jane Ramsey responded to the report by offering her apologies to patients.
She said: "I would like to say sorry to our patients for a lack of effective systems and processes across our trust, which led to the CQC rating our hospitals as inadequate… We will take rapid action to address concerns and maintain our record of safety and high-quality care."
Stuart Tuckwood, spokesman for public sector union Unison, has criticised the report, claiming it is a ‘slap in the face’ to staff who are providing high quality care.
He said: "To be told that the hospital is inadequate... is a slap in the face to our members and the healthcare staff that work there. The one thing that came out as really outstanding was the care delivered by our members and by all the staff at the hospital, so they can really hold their heads up and say they've done a good job under really trying conditions."
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