Emily Townsend
Emily Townsend writes about patient safety and care quality nationally, including maternity services and regulators such as the CQC, and covers the West Midlands regional patch. Joining HSJ in October 2021, she previously covered mental health, learning disabilities and autism. She was an investigations correspondent across two flagship daily titles at regional publisher Archant. In 2023, she was named among the best national journalists under 30 years old, winning a gold award for her reporting at HSJ.
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NewsBest and worst trusts on maternity experience revealed by CQC
The trusts where maternity experience has improved the most and deteriorated the furthest have been revealed by the Care Quality Commission.
NewsChair to leave regulator after ‘intensely challenging’ term
The chair of the Care Quality Commission is to leave the organisation next spring, having admitted the past three years have “at times been intensely challenging”.
NewsNHSE board members face regulation under government proposals
A major consultation on introducing professional regulation of NHS managers and leaders proposes applying the measures to NHS England board members.
CEO InterviewCEO interview: Roisin Fallon-Williams, chief executive, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust
This is the latest in a series of interviews with chief executives, which are available exclusively to HSJ Insight subscribers.
HSJ LocalICS warned its deficit could surge past £200m
One of the country’s most financially challenged systems faces a £242m deficit, nearly three times as high as its target, an external report has said.
News‘Deeply flawed’ watchdog fails to act in 182 cases
Bereaved parents have described maternity investigations carried out by a watchdog as “deeply flawed” after it failed to make recommendations to trusts in 182 cases of deaths and harm.
NewsManagers face legal penalties for failing to deal with safety concerns
NHS managers would be made “legally accountable for responding to concerns about patient safety” under new government proposals.
NewsC difficile rates hit 13-year high
C difficile cases rose to their highest level in more than a decade, official data published this month shows.
HSJ Local‘Exceptional’ chief leaves trust to make way for group model
The chief executive of a trust that just opened a new hospital after years of delays is leaving, paving the way for a group model.
HSJ LocalTrust halts ‘dangerous cut to doctors’ pay’
University Hospitals Birmingham, earlier this month accused of imposing a “badly disguised pay cut for doctors” and axing enhanced locum pay rates, has appeared to U-turn on the move by pausing the changes.
HSJ LocalDoctors to refuse overtime in major dispute with hospital trust
Doctors at a major teaching trust are to refuse overtime and extra shifts from next week, HSJ has learned, amid escalating tensions with executives over a decision to stop paying premium rates for locum shifts.
NewsRevealed: Trusts paying the biggest premiums for safety errors
The trusts paying the highest negligence premiums as a proportion of their income have been revealed, with experts warning the “sheer costs involved in managing accidents that could be avoided” neared £3bn last year.
HSJ Local‘Tension’ and ‘poor behaviours’ uncovered on trust’s board
The board of a mental health trust grappling with serious culture and safety concerns is “not functioning well”, an NHS England investigation has found, amid the early departure of its chair.
HSJ LocalTrust accused of imposing ‘badly disguised pay cut’ on doctors
University Hospitals Birmingham has become locked in a row with the British Medical Association over its plans to stop paying premium rates for medical bank staff.
HSJ LocalTrust’s CQC rating raised after CEO plea
A trust that was the centre of one of the NHS’s biggest maternity care scandals has successfully challenged the Care Quality Commission’s rating of its service, HSJ has discovered.
NewsCQC examining possible 'criminal offence' by trust
The Care Quality Commission is considering bringing a criminal prosecution against an NHS trust over the death of a 13-year-old girl from sepsis.
NewsTrust CEOs warn ‘generation of children’ at risk from failing services
A new report concludes that health services are “failing” children as young people face average waits of a year for an autism diagnosis.
NewsSafety watchdog urges Streeting to expand her role
The patient safety commissioner is urging the health and social care secretary to remove “constraints” limiting her role amid a government review of national watchdogs.
NewsCQC chief quits after ‘intensely challenging experience’
Kate Terroni, current interim chief executive of the Care Quality Commission is leaving the embattled regulator, it has announced.
HSJ Local‘Dangerous’ people should not be admitted to specialist beds, warns CEO
Police should work with mental health services to ensure people who pose a danger to society — and show no signs of being mentally unwell — are not inappropriately admitted to rarely available specialist beds, a chief executive has said.