Play all audios:
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn Foundation Trust has been placed in special measures by regulators because of poor care and weak leadership. The trust had previously received
warnings about inadequate patient care from the Care Quality Commission and a report from NHS England highlighted low nurse staffing levels. The trust has also been in breach of its licence
for financial issues since April. The hospital is the first to be placed under special measures other than the 11 Keogh review trusts which entered in July. CQC inspectors found low
staffing, a lack of training in relation to dementia care, as well as systems to manage risks not being robust enough, were putting patient care at risk. Chief Inspector of Hospitals Sir
Mike Richards said: “The failings we found at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn were unacceptable on more than one occasion. “The concerns we found, coupled with information from our
partner agencies and other regulators, were so great we felt it was necessary to request that Monitor intervene and place the trust in to special measures to assist in driving through
improvements for patient care. “CQC will continue to monitor this trust closely and our inspectors will be returning unannounced to check on whether improvements have been made and standards
are being met.” Moniotr, the foundation trust regulator, has used its powers to put in place a new management team with a focus on turning around the struggling foundation trust’s
prospects. Manjit Obhrai, who has experience in turning around the fortunes of poor performing FTs as medical director at the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, takes over as chief
executive. Trust chair Kate Gordon has stepped down and has been replaced by David Dean, who is currently vice-chair of Guy’s and St Thomas’. The former chief executive of neighbouring
James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth David Hill will join as improvement director. Stephen Hay, managing director of provider regulation at Monitor, said: “We have been monitoring the
performance of this trust for some time, and it is clear that the current leadership of the trust is not the right one to bring about the changes needed.” He added: “That’s why we’ve taken
this action, appointing new leadership and bringing in a team that has a wealth of experience. Special measures will give the trust the opportunity to start delivering the standard of care
patients expect.” _ARE YOU ABLE TO SPEAK OUT SAFELY?_ _SIGN OUR PETITION_ _to put pressure on your trust to support an open and transparent NHS_ 25 October