Foscote Private Hospital needs 'urgent improvements', CQC says

Theatre nurses were acting as surgical first assistants at the hospital, the CQC said

A private hospital ranked as inadequate had staff working at levels above their abilities, the health watchdog found.

The Care Quality Commission carried out an announced visit to Foscote Private Hospital in Oxfordshire in July and said it needed "urgent improvements".

Inspectors said safety was compromised during surgery because staff were working beyond their skill sets.

Hospital manager Ruth Thompson said she was "concerned and disappointed" by the findings.

According to the report some staff "did not have the appropriate skills and qualifications for their roles".

It said theatre nurses were "acting inappropriately" as surgical first assistants, and nursing staff in endoscopy had not received formal training.

Meanwhile, risks were not "adequately identified, assessed or managed", and not all staff were able to "define abuse or how to identify adults at risk".

However, inspectors said staff were "caring, compassionate and treated patients with dignity and respect".

'Matter of concern'

Joyce Frederick, head of hospital inspection for the south central region, said: "The safety issues we found required urgent attention.

"Staff were working beyond their training or assessed roles... and we found little evidence that the provider had a system in place to learn from these incidents or prevent them happening in the first place.

"All patients are entitled to services which are safe, effective, caring, well led, and responsive to their needs. It is a matter of concern that this hospital did not have systems in place to monitor the quality of the service."

Mrs Thompson said the report failed to "recognise the policies of continued improvement we have pursued, since our last successful inspection by the CQC some 24 months ago".

She added: "Everyone at Foscote has worked tirelessly to ensure our patients receive responsive, safe, quality care at all stages of their treatment.

"We will continue to do so and continue to strive to improve our service wherever we can."