Is the decline in public health standards leading to an increase in NHS claims?
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Anyone who follows the news will have noticed reports of failings in our public health services: increased wait times, failures to meet protocols for cancer care, ambulance response times, accident and emergency delays, an increase in patients feeling ignored, and the rise in the number of ‘never events‘ have all featured in recent headlines.
The decline in standards has resulted in attention being focused on the body responsible for monitoring healthcare, the Care Quality Commission (“CQC”).
In July 2024, the BBC published an article quoting the newly appointed Health Secretary stating that the CQC (which is responsible for inspecting NHS Hospitals, GP Practices, and care homes in England) is not fit for purpose.
The CQC has accepted the findings of an independent review in full, and has confirmed that it is now trying to improve and restore trust.
The CQC covers 90,000 different services and gives one of four ratings, from ‘outstanding’, to ‘inadequate’.
Inspectors from the CQC were interviewed during the review process and the investigation concluded that they lacked experience, with some having never been into a hospital, and those inspecting care homes having never met a person with dementia. Other failings included a backlog of assessments, with one in five services having never been assessed, and one hospital having gone over 10 years since an inspection.
The Health Secretary is reportedly stunned by the extent of these failings and has recommended that its ratings should be taken with a pinch of salt. If the institution responsible for identifying failings is not fit for purpose, it is no wonder that standards have continued to slip.
There is a change of the guard at the CQC, with the previous head having stepped down and a well-regarded and experienced oncologist, Sir Mike Richards, coming in to consult with the senior leaders and conduct a review. Leaders within the public health sector are therefore hopeful that this will result in improvement and that the standard of care in public health will soon return to previous levels.
However, with the decline that has already occurred it is likely that this will have resulted in an increase in NHS claims by patients who have suffered as a result of inadequate medical care.
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