CQC to investigate deaths in NHS trusts

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has announced a review of how NHS trusts identify, report, investigate and learn from deaths of people using their services.

The review follows the death of 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk, who drowned in a Bath at Oxford mental health facility in 2013.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt requested the review, which will pay particular attention to how trusts handle the deaths of people with learning disabilities and mental health problems.

The CQC will write to all all acute, community and mental health trusts for information about deaths in their service, seeking information about how these deaths are investigated, how they involve families and how they implement improvements following these incidents.

It will also conduct phone interviews with 30 trusts, as well as visit 12 trusts, to gain a more in depth understanding of practices and processes.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said: “Very many people are under the care of secondary healthcare services at the time of their death.

“For most, the care provided has prolonged their life, eased their suffering and helped them to die with dignity. However, this is not the case for everybody. Every year thousands of people under the care of NHS trusts die prematurely because their treatment or care has not been as good as it could have been. Healthcare workers might have failed to identify an illness that could have been treated, not provided the advice that might have prevented an illness developing, not made a life saving intervention with a person who is critically ill or made some other error that contributed to a premature death.

“It is essential that, when this happens, NHS services identify and investigate the circumstances of these deaths so that staff can learn from them and reduce the likelihood of a similar event happening in the future. It is also essential, that NHS providers are open and honest with the families and carers of people who die whilst under their care.

“CQC’s review aims to find out to what extent NHS trusts are learning organisations when it comes to investigating the deaths of people under their care and how well they support and engage with the families of people who have died.”