Fulbourn Hospital: CQC not told about alleged ward sex assault

The alleged sexual assault took place on the Mulberry 2 ward at Fulbourn Hospital near Cambridge

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) was not informed about an alleged serious sexual assault on a ward at a Cambridgeshire psychiatric unit, it has been revealed.

Records relating to the alleged incident at Fulbourn Hospital had also gone missing, a CQC report said.

Short staffing also meant there were 91 rota gaps over a seven-week period.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) said it accepted the findings.

The CQC made an unannounced inspection of Mulberry 2 ward, a 16-bed mixed sex unit, after receiving information about the safety and quality of services.

The inspectors discovered unsanitary conditions including a heavily soiled bedroom with a filthy toilet.

They also highlighted poor patient observation with multiple blind spots in the corridors, despite mirrors being in place.

Patients had come to harm because of this, they said.

Craig Howarth, CQC head of inspection for mental health and community health services, said: "We had significant concerns about the safety and dignity of patients on the acute ward for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care unit at Fulbourn Hospital."

The alleged sexual assault was by a male patient on a female patient in February.

Allegations of sexual abuse were discovered by the CQC

Inspectors said observation documentation in relation to what happened was "lost", as was another form from when a male patient was said to have twice touched a female member of staff inappropriately in March.

The report stated staff were unable to provide either the paper record or the uploaded electronic copies.

The Trust confirmed that the serious sexual assault allegation had been referred to police.

Racial abuse

Staff also described in the report how black colleagues reported receiving sustained racial abuse from a patient and had "raised concerns that this was not listened to or acted upon by more senior colleagues".

However, the inspectors did observe instances of kind and compassionate care on the ward.

CPFT has been ordered to make improvements with a warning notice being issued, but it has held on to its overall rating of "good".

A spokesman for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We fully accept the findings of the report into the Mulberry 2 ward which fell below the standards of care our service users rightly expect, and we are committed to continuing to improve in the areas identified by the CQC.

"Since the inspection we have taken action to improve patient safety on our wards."

The Trust said it was temporarily increasing staffing levels to improve patient monitoring.