Keogh report on 14 failing Trusts out tomorrow

Posted: 15/07/2013

Penningtons Solicitors clinical negligence team will be commenting on the Keogh report, due out tomorrow. This report was commissioned earlier this year to review the quality of care and treatment provided by those NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts that are persistent outliers on mortality indicators. A total of 14 hospital trusts have been investigated as part of this review. The intention was that the review would consult with patients, members of the public and staff at the 14 Trusts and seek to determine whether there are any sustained failings in the quality of care and treatment being provided to patients at these trusts.

Specifically the review was asked to identify whether:

1. existing actions taken by these trusts to improve quality are adequate and whether any additional steps should be taken.
2. there is any additional external support that should be made available to these trusts to help them improve.
3. there are any areas that may require regulatory action in order to protect patients.

The 14 Trusts under investigation are:

• Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
• Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust
• The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust
• East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
• George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
• Medway NHS Foundation Trust
• North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Philippa Luscombe, partner in the clinical negligence team at Penningtons, said: “It is of great concern that these trusts have performed for some time at a level well below other trusts nationwide. Given all that has become apparent from the Francis enquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS care, it is encouraging to see that steps are being taken to identify and investigate underperforming hospitals. We have encountered some of these hospitals on a regular basis when being instructed by clients to investigate potential clinical negligence claims and it is hoped that this review produces recommendations that will see the standard of healthcare in these trusts improve.”

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