Today, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a review of the way NHS trusts review and investigate the deaths of patients in England.
A year after a review commissioned by NHS England uncovered failings at Southern Health Foundation Trust, the CQC looks at how acute, community and mental health trusts across the county identify, report, investigate and learn from deaths of people who have been in their care.
The review finds that there is no consistent national approach to support the NHS to investigate deaths. The CQC is calling for a national framework, so that NHS trusts have clarity on the actions required when someone in their care dies. This includes ensuring that families are consistently listened to as equal partners alongside NHS staff.
Speaking in the House of Commons today, the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt confirmed his commitment to implementing the CQC's recommendations in full, including the establishment of a national framework.
The most vulnerable people in our society deserve care in a safe, secure and dignified setting. The system failures at Southern Health, which resulted in such tragic and unacceptable outcomes, are clearly not unique to our local area, but are happening up and down the country. We urgently need systemic action at a national level to address grossly unacceptable failures and I welcome the Secretary of State's commitment to delivering on the CQC's recommendations.
I am pleased that the CQC recently noted improvements at Southern Health. But further changes still need to be made and I will continue to hold Southern Health to account to ensure such unacceptable failings can never happen again.