[London, UK] The Care Quality Commission has once again found ‘zip lock bags’ full of patient records left in unsupervised areas accessible to the public at Royal Conrwall Hospitals NHS Trust.
CQC inspectors discovered the issue during a previous inspection from January 2017 and urged the trust to make sure patient records are securely stored, although found that by July no changes had been made.
Zip bags of patient notes were found unlocked across ‘several areas’, including in a trolley left in one of the main corridors:
“During our unannounced visit we found lists of patients on wards which contained patient identifiable information, including names, addresses and dates patients were due to come to the hospital for their operation.
“These were placed on a shelf in a corridor at the main entrance to Theatre Direct ward, which could not be viewed from the nurse’s station and was unmanned out of hours. This meant that members of the public had open access to view or remove these folders,” the CQC report on the trust, released today, indicates.
This is the second warning issued by the CQC regarding the lack of security of patient records at an NHS trust this week.
It follows a report on Stepping Hill Hospital, part of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, indicating the organisation had not ‘responded appropriately’ to risks expressed by the CQC after a previous inspection when trolleys of records were found unlocked in public areas.
Services at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust have been rated as ‘inadequate’ overall and the CQC has said the trust should be placed into special measures.
Professor Ted Baker, Chief Inspectors of Hospitals, said: “Throughout our inspections, we have invariably found the staff to be caring and compassionate. Despite their best efforts Royal Cornwall Hospitals has a history of poor performance, with a failure to make improvements over a number of years.
“The time has now come to bring in external support - which is why I am recommending that the trust goes into special measures."
