Inspections must change to ensure patient abuse is detected – CQC chief
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) must change the way it inspects services to ensure it detects cases of patient abuse, its chief executive has said.
Some individuals appear to be “deliberately setting out to thwart” the inspection process, which is stopping it from being effective, Ian Trenholm told the Human Rights Committee on Wednesday.
It comes after a BBC Panorama programme appeared to show staff mocking, intimidating and repeatedly restraining vulnerable patients at Whorlton Hall, a private hospital in County Durham.
The undercover investigation was carried out between December and February.
Following a request from the committee, the CQC has published a draft 2015 inspection report, which concluded that Whorlton Hall required improvement.
It contained accusations of bullying, inappropriate staff behaviour and concerns about the use of seclusion and restraint.
Documents show that Stanley Wilkinson, who led the inspection, left the CQC after they decided not to publish his concerns, the committee heard.
In June 2016 – nine months later – the hospital was awarded a good rating after being visited by a different team of inspectors.
Mr Trenholm (pictured) said the BBC Panorama investigation showed individuals “appearing to collude in a way that was deliberately thwarting our methodology”.
“We need to reflect on that to say … we must change our methodology to think differently about these sorts of things,” he told MPs.
The CQC has launched an independent review into its handling of the draft report, as well as a wider review looking at regulation of Whorlton Hall.
“The second review I have commissioned is going to look at our entire regulatory history from 2015 to 2019, with the specific intention to look at how our regulatory method actually works,” Mr Trenholm said.
“It is something that concerns us deeply.”
He added: “I think if people are seeking to behave in this way, what we can do is minimise the risk of it happening to the absolute minimum.
“But I don’t think I can honestly, hand on heart, sit here, and promise you it will never happen again.”
Labour MP Harriet Harman, chairwoman of the committee, said the 2015 draft report raised questions over what CQC knew about allegations relating to Whorlton Hall.
“Looking at the papers that you’ve kindly given us, it certainly seems quite evident to me that you didn’t miss what was going on at Whorlton Hall, that you knew what was going on at Whorlton Hall, arising out of an inspection that was carried out in 2015, four years ago,” she told Dr Paul Lelliott, deputy chief inspector at the CQC.
“So actually the surprise that you showed in your interview on Panorama, I can’t square with the papers we’ve got here.”
But Dr Lelliott said the 2015 report contained “conflicting statements” about patients’ views on care, which was why it was not published.
Ms Harman said that despite Mr Wilkinson’s concerns, a less experienced and smaller inspection team was sent in to conduct the 2016 review.
“I have to put this to you quite bluntly Dr Lelliott,” she said.
“It looks like there was a diligent inspection in 2015, it looks like they discovered what we then saw to our horror on Panorama on our televisions, it looks like the CQC didn’t publish that 2015 report, it was suppressed.
“There was a row about it and a strong complaint from the lead inspector.”
She went on: “And then a new team was sent in and they produced a report which was a whitewash and which said Whorlton Hall was good.”
Dr Lelliot responded: “I don’t accept that that is an accurate description of what happened.”
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