Baby deaths inquiry trust deemed inadequate by CQC

The Care Quality Commission has highlighted a ‘culture of bullying and harassment’ at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, rating the trust as inadequate in its latest inspection.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, which was previously rated as ‘requires improvement’ overall, is in the middle of investigations over alleged maternity failings, with more than 200 families raising concerns about care at the trust.

Running two hospitals in Shropshire and provides care for 420,000 people, the trust has been struggling to recruit enough staff and had planned to shut the A&E unit at the Princess Royal hospital in Telford overnight for that reason, before public outcry quashed the notion.

Among the failings outlined in the report, the CQC highlights serious lapses in patient safety standards, including eight that involved breaches of the trust’s legal duties, bullying and harassment claims and ‘a culture of defensiveness from the executive team’. Because of this, staff felt they were not listened to and were sometimes fearful to raise concerns or issues, prompting low morale and high levels of stress.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has urged local residents not to lose sight of the good work being undertaken by the organisation, with almost all services recorded as Good for ‘Caring’ by the inspectorate and 33 per cent of categories rated by inspectors as Good. In addition to this, the trust exceeds the national Referral to Treatment (RTT) target and is ranked 18 out of 126 trusts.

Simon Wright, chief executive of the trust, said: “You cannot be unaffected by a report like this. I’m sorry and disappointed that we have not made as much progress to tackle the issues and challenges that the trust faces as we all want. But people should not lose sight of many things that SaTH does not just well but significantly better than many other trusts around the country.”