Universities suspend student placements at hospital

Two universities have suspended medical student placements at a hospital over concerns about standards, the BBC has learned.

Cambridge University and the University of East Anglia will not send undergraduate trainees to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, Norfolk, in the next academic year.

Jo Segasby, the deputy chief executive of Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group, said in an email to staff that "university partners have lost confidence in parts of the learning environment" at the hospital.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital is currently rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as "requires improvement".

Segasby said the decision followed concerns "about the educational environment, governance arrangements and whether learners consistently experience the high standards expected within a modern NHS organisation".

In response to the BBC's questions she added the hospital needed to take "a bit of a step back".

"We still continue to have trainees. I think it was because of the age of some of the medical students and some of the concerns of their experience [that] the universities have taken that approach," Segasby added.

In May the CQC issued a warning notice to the hospital over "failing to meet the regulations relating to safe care and treatment, storage and management of medicines, good governance, and a lack of privacy and dignity".

A member of staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, who the BBC has agreed not to identify, said the decision to remove the undergraduate student placements "just proves that the QEH is not fit for purpose".

They added that the hospital requires "radical changes from the very top in order to ensure patients are safe and students can return to learn in a safe and welcoming environment".

Paul Wilkinson, the clinical dean of the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge, said: "This decision follows a series of reviews by NHS England, the Royal College of Surgeons and educational leaders, which identified insufficient assurance relating to educational oversight, governance, the learning environment, and the quality and delivery of undergraduate medical education."

The University of East Anglia confirmed it had paused placements, adding it was working with the hospital, NHS England and the General Medical Council on "the processes that assure ourselves of the hospital's educational oversight, governance, learning environment, and the quality and delivery of undergraduate medical education".

It added it expected students to return to QEH "once the current work on medical education has been completed".

A spokesman for the General Medical Council said it was "aware of concerns" at the hospital and that it would be "making specific recommendations in due course".

The withdrawal of placements comes a year after the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was incorporated into the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group.

Dr Rob Sherwin, the chief medical officer for the group, said: "We are disappointed by the decision taken by our university partners to suspend undergraduate medical student placements at the QEH. However, we recognise and accept the concerns that have been raised.

"We acknowledge that improvements are needed and we are fully committed to addressing the issues identified.

"We are working closely with NHS England, our university partners and other educational stakeholders to deliver the necessary improvements and strengthen the experience of learners at the QEH."

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