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ESNEFT hospital leaders failed to address patient safety risks, CQC finds
Overview
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has downgraded the leadership rating of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) from "good" to "requires improvement" after finding that leaders at Colchester and Ipswich hospitals failed to resolve significant and avoidable safety risks despite knowing about them.
Key points
- The CQC issued warning notices at Colchester and Ipswich hospitals after identifying significant risks to patient safety.
- ESNEFT's leadership rating was downgraded from "good" to "requires improvement".
- Inspectors found that staff did not feel safe reporting concerns about the behaviour of senior leaders.
- The report highlighted weak oversight, lack of clear roles, and inconsistent completion of basic needs audits like nutrition and hydration charts.
- People with mental health needs faced delays in accessing emergency department support, and minority ethnic staff reported poorer working experiences.
- ESNEFT leaders accepted the findings, stated that changes have been made since the inspection, and vowed to make further improvements.