A North East hospital trust that was previously deemed "outstanding" has seen "serious deterioration" after whistleblowers raised concerns. 

Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said that "bullying" and "lack of oversight" have contributed to Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Trust having its rating shockingly drop from "outstanding" to "requires improvement". 

The trust, which runs the Royal Victoria Infirmary and Freeman Hospital, said that concerns were being "worked on as a matter of urgency". 

The Northern Echo: Lib - A general picture of the exterior of the RVI - Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle

Inspections were across June, July and September in surgery, services for children and young people, and medical care at the Freeman Hospital and the RVI, as well as urgent and emergency care at the RVI. 

A further targeted inspection took place in the cardiothoracic surgery department at the Freeman Hospital, and the maternity services in the RVI, after whistleblowers raised concerns about culture and safety. 

In the cardiothoracic surgery department, whistleblowers told the CQC about concerns they had regarding "bullying and harassment".   

Following this inspection;

  • The overall rating for The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has declined from outstanding to requires improvement.
  • How well-led the trust is has declined from outstanding to inadequate.
  • Safety has dropped from good to requires improvement, effective and responsive have declined from outstanding to requires improvement.
  • Caring has dropped from outstanding to good. 

Ann Ford, CQC’s director of operations in the north, said issues with trust leadership was having a "knock-on effect on the standard of services being provided to people."

She said: “We found leaders had the skills and abilities to run the trust but they weren’t using them to always manage the priorities and issues they faced in a timely way.

"Also, the board had a lack of oversight at all levels to effectively manage and reduce risks to people.

“We were also concerned to hear the trust didn’t have an open culture where staff could raise concerns without fear of blame or punishment.

"Some staff told us that bullying was a normal occurrence, and they were encouraged to ‘turn a blind eye’ and not report this behaviour.

"This is completely unacceptable and must be addressed by the leadership team as a priority to enable staff to provide the best possible experience to people."

CQC has used its enforcement powers and placed conditions on the trust's registration. These require the trust to make specific improvements within a specified timescale and to submit monthly reports to CQC showing progress.

She added: "Although we found a number of concerns across the trust, we also found staff were proud to work for the organisation and were providing good care."

Newcastle Hospitals’ new chief executive, Sir James Mackey, said: “We fully accept the CQC’s reports.

“Their clear recommendations for attention and improvement are being worked on as a matter of urgency and I am confident we can fix this by working together across the organisation and focussing on what matters to patients and staff.

“A detailed programme of activity is already underway and will continue until we, and the CQC, are assured the issues have been addressed. This will involve some tough decisions but it’s important we get this right and that people can see change happening.

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“Of course, it is a huge disappointment that our overall rating has been reduced and to hear of the difficulties experienced by some colleagues.

“I know from speaking to many staff over the last few weeks that providing the best possible patient care remains an absolute priority for everyone at Newcastle Hospitals. 

“While this is a challenging time, it’s important to emphasise that the inspectors saw and highlighted the compassion and kindness of our teams and rated ‘caring’ as ‘good’. "