NHS care worsened last year despite lessons from Stafford

The quality of care in the NHS in England did not improve in 2012-13 despite widespread publicity about failings in the care of patients at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, England’s health and social care regulator has found.

The Care and Quality Commission carried out more than 35 000 inspections across the NHS and social care sector last year and found poor care in one in 10 inspections in hospitals and residential care homes.

The CQC’s annual report cites many examples of hospital patients’ concerns being ignored, patients not knowing what was happening, and relatives going hungry because they did not want to leave the patient’s side in case a doctor appeared.1

Inspectors had to step up their action against NHS services last year after finding that standards were not being met. The proportion of times inspectors had to take enforcement action more than doubled from 3% in 2011-12 to 6.5% in …