How safe are NHS patients in private hospitals: learning from the Care Quality Commission

Reports
Written By Prof Marianna Fotaki, Sally Ruane & Colin Leys

This report uses findings from the Care Quality Commission’s new inspection regime for private hospitals to show that there continue to be risks to patient safety associated with the distinctive nature of private hospitals in England, compared with the NHS. In addition, the lack of systematic collection and reporting of patient safety data raises questions about the adequacy of the CQC’s new approach to regulating private hospitals.

* This report has been amended following a number of errors in Tables 1 and 3 of the report which were brought to our attention after initial publication.

Prof Marianna Fotaki, Sally Ruane & Colin Leys
Prof Marianna Fotaki

Marianna Fotaki is Full Professor of Business Ethics at University of Warwick Business School working on the marketization of health policy, inequalities in organizations and society, solidarity responses to refugee and forced migrants arrivals as well as whistleblowing. With Professor Kenny and Dr Wim Vandekerckhove, she has published The Whistleblowing Guide: Speak‐up Arrangements, Challenges, and Best‐Practices, Wiley (2019).

Sally Ruane

Sally Ruane is the Deputy Director of the Health Policy Research Unit at De Montfort University, Leicester and a former member of the CHPI's EMT. She has published in books, academic journals and magazines in the UK and Spain and has a particular interest in the private finance initiative, service configuration and political aspects of the policy process.

Colin Leys

Colin is an emeritus professor at Queen’s University, Canada, and an honorary professor at Goldsmiths, University of London. Since 2000 he has written extensively on health policy. He is co-author with Stewart Player of Confuse and Conceal: the NHS and Independent Sector Treatment Centres.

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