NHS staff' not trained to spot child abuse'.

Byline: Anna Davis Health Reporter

LONDON health trusts are failing to train staff to spot signs of child abuse, warns an official report published today.

Health regulator the Care Quality Commission named nine primary care trusts and hospitals in the capital that have failed to meet basic standards on child protection.

Some failed to train staff to recognise and report child abuse, or else did not make a member of staff responsible for safeguarding children. Haringey primary care trust, which was criticised over the death of Baby P, was one of those which failed to meet standards.

Hugh Thornbery, from charity Action for Children, said: "Having the correct child protection procedures in place should be a key consideration for all trusts. Health professionals are increasingly at the front line of dealing with vulnerable young people. That's why it's vital they are properly trained and have the confidence to intervene early in cases where children may be at risk."

Today's report also found medical instruments were not being cleaned properly in some London hospitals.

The Care Quality Commission graded every health and adult social care service in England for today's report.

Investigators looked at 44 core standards from food to child protection and whether patients could have an input into how services are run.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge hospitals trust scored the lowest in the country, with a grading of "double weak." 15 other trusts in London were also classed as weak.

But nine out of the 73 in the capital were given the highest possible rating, "double excellent" - the Royal Marsden in Chelsea for the fourth year running.

The commission's London director, Colin Hough, said: "The variation between those scoring excellent and weak is still too wide."

A spokesman for Haringey PCT, now known as NHS Haringey, said: "These results refer to last year's performance. We are taking forward a major programme to improve the way we identify and protect children at risk."

A spokesman for NHS London said: "The number of London trusts rated as 'excellent' has nearly doubled from 10 to 19. We consider safeguarding children to be one of the top priorities for the NHS. We have developed a robust action plan and put in place a team who will work with local health organisations to further develop safeguarding arrangements and practices."

For more log on to: cqc.org.uk

MARSDEN IS 'DOUBLE EXCELLENT' AGAIN

THE ROYAL MARSDEN was one of nine hospital trusts in London to score "double excellent" for both its finances and its quality of care. It is the only trust in the country to be given top marks four years running - despite a fire in January last year. Today's score puts cancer specialist the Marsden in the top 14.7 per cent of acute and specialist trusts. Chief executive Cally Palmer said: "This has been a challenging year for us with only half our operating capacity available at Chelsea, as we continue to rebuild after the fire, but our staff have once again achieved all quality targets."

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Best in Britain: The Royal Marsden in Chelsea is the only trust to be given top marks four years running