THE Chief Inspector of Hospitals has used CQC’s urgent enforcement powers to protect people using X-ray services at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Care Quality Commission has told the trust – which runs the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch – to make urgent improvements to the quality of the healthcare provided to patients who use its X-ray (radiology) services.
An unannounced inspection was carried out at the service on July 27 this year in response to information concerning the length of time being taken to report on routine and urgent plain film X-ray examinations and the processes in place to manage these backlogs.
There were additional concerns relating to staffing within the department.
The CQC’s enforcement action means the trust must take urgent action to deal with the significant number of unreported X-rays to ensure patients who may have health conditions of concern are protected from the risk of harm.
The CQC found a significant backlog in the reporting of plain film X-rays dating back to 2013. The length of time for the reporting of diagnostic imaging tests had been on the trust risk register since 2003 and inspectors found no evidence of a review of the situation or any clear actions to reduce the backlog.
The trust has sent the CQC a weekly report that shows the action taken in response and future actions planned. Last week, inspectors were in the trust undertaking a comprehensive inspection which includes an assessment of the progress the trust has made.
A full report of the inspection is available on CQC’s website: http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/RWP50
A spokesperson for the trust said: “We apologise for any distress this has caused.
“Following the CQC visit back in July to our radiology department, we have responded promptly to the concerns raised and can confirm that the plain film backlog is now cleared. Our processes have been reviewed and strengthened, radiographer staffing levels are improved and we are now working to a standard of reporting all urgent X-rays within two days and all other ‘routine’ X-rays within two weeks.”
