Harley Street Nurses is disputing the findings of a Care Quality Commission (CQC) investigation which resulted in the London-based private nursing services provider being rated as inadequate and placed in special measures.
The CQC has maintained its stance about the issues it found at the provider, but has apologised to Harley Street Nurses for errors it made in the publication timeline for the report.
Yesterday Health & Protection reported on action by the CQC which rated the London-based private nursing services provider as inadequate and placed it in special measures. It also prevented the service from taking on new patients without prior written agreement.
The CQC revealed it carried out a focused inspection following concerns raised about how safe and well-led the service was.
When contacted by Health & Protection a spokesperson for Harley Street Nurses claimed the CQC report had been published in the face of the agreement that it had until 5pm on 25 May to respond to the issues the CQC had raised.
The spokesperson also claimed the CQC had already acknowledged there were a number of errors in the report, but the CQC has subsequently rejected this.
The Harley Street Nurses spokesperson further claimed the firm was then informed that the CQC would not wait until 5pm on 25 May to publish and had in fact issued a statement about the report and embargoed copies of it.
“We have nevertheless provided a list of further inaccuracies with supporting evidence in line with the deadline we were given and await the CQC response which we have not yet received. We hope that a number of misunderstandings are cleared up in the process,” the spokesman said.
“Despite the above we have already begun work on addressing the issues identified by the CQC and have already implemented a number of new polices to address concerns raised.
“We believe that these are a complete answer to the issues that may exist. We expect a positive response from the CQC in this regard.
“Harley Street Nurses prides itself on its good relationships with its clients and staff; and the service it offers. We will continue to strive for excellence. Until such time as we have a response from the CQC with respect to our recent correspondence it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
In response to the Harley Street Nurses statement, the CQC issued its own statement in which Jane Ray, head of hospital inspection for London and lead for mental health at the CQC, said the regulator had followed its normal processes regarding the inspection and subsequent publication of the report for Harley Street Nurses.
But she admitted it had apologised to Harley Street Nurses for how it handled the publication timeline.
“A draft report is always sent to the provider to allow for factual accuracy checks and Harley Street Nurses had the opportunity to respond, which they did,” Ray said.
“After reviewing and providing feedback on their factual accuracy comments, we began the process of publishing the report, which included an accompanying press release.
“Harley Street Nurses then indicated they had new information which they would like to be considered around the content of the report. We asked Harley Street Nurses to provide this information before 5pm on 25 May which they have done.
“As the additional information came in after the deadline for factual accuracy responses it will be considered separately and does not affect the original report, the timing of the publication of the report, or the enforcement action we have taken.
“We have however apologised to the provider for an internal misunderstanding about timelines for publication.”