![Emily Townsend](https://d3e6tmgg461bic.cloudfront.net/Pictures/80x80/P/Pictures%2Fweb%2Fw%2Fu%2Fx%2Fimage3_67223.jpg)
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.
Contact info
- Tel:
- 020 3307 6126
- Email:
- emily.townsend@hsj.co.uk
- News
CQC chief admits ‘we’ve lost your trust’ and announces more inspections
The Care Quality Commission’s new chief executive has admitted the regulator “got things wrong” during the rollout of its new inspection regime and announced an increase in the number of assessments it carries out.
- News
Former minister joins Streeting’s team
Two new health and social care ministers, who previously held roles in the shadow team, have been announced by the new government.
- HSJ Local
Transfusion never events just ‘tip of iceberg’ at troubled trust
Fourteen never events recorded at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust’s transfusion service were the “tip of an iceberg”, an external review has concluded.
- News
Midwives call women in labour ‘Asian princesses’ amid ‘hostile’ environment fears
The NHS Race and Health Observatory has raised fundamental concerns about racism towards maternity patients after several cases have come to light in recent months, including midwives branding patients “Asian princesses”.
- News
Corridor care ‘must not be the norm’, NHSE warns trusts
NHS England has warned trusts corridor care “must not be considered the norm”, adding that the failings exposed by a recent undercover documentary were “not acceptable”.
- News
Exclusive: CQC admits it is failing to keep patients safe
The Care Quality Commission has admitted it is failing to keep patients ‘safe’ and is losing the confidence of ministers and the NHS, HSJ has discovered.
- News
CQC chief executive announces sudden departure
The chief executive of the Care Quality Commission has today told staff he will be leaving his role at the end of the week.
- News
Three directors submit grievances about ICB’s leadership
Three directors have submitted grievances about the leadership of an integrated care board over the past three months, HSJ has been told.
- News
CQC appoints interim chief inspector
The Care Quality Commission has appointed an interim chief inspector of healthcare to cover another director’s period of illness.
- News
‘Burdensome’ patient safety inquiries taking up too much time, says NHSE chief
NHS England’s head of patient safety has suggested too much time and resource is being spent on “burdensome” inquiries to investigate failings in the system.
- News
Hospitals harm hundreds of patients a year by misidentification
Hundreds of patients are being harmed each year because NHS organisations have incorrectly identified who they are, an HSJ investigation has found.
- News
Suicide risks found in nearly half A&E and mental health wards
Nearly half of hospital inspections for emergency departments and mental health wards have raised concerns over ligature risks for vulnerable patients, HSJ analysis has found.
- News
Concerns over ‘essential’ newborn breathing equipment at one in five hospitals
One in five recent inspections of maternity services have raised concerns over “essential” breathing equipment for newborn babies, HSJ has found.
- News
New CQC inspections postponed until after election
The Care Quality Commission is postponing its long-awaited inspections of integrated care systems even further as it plans to seek approval from a new government, it has announced.
- HSJ Local
‘Culture of bullying and undermining’ uncovered in trust’s maternity service
Trainee midwives at a struggling trust have raised serious concerns about bullying and feeling afraid to speak up, an NHS England report has revealed.
- HSJ Local
New hospital set to open with £40m running cost gap
A new hospital which has taken over a decade to deliver will open without all the funding needed to run it, the trust’s chief executive has warned.
- HSJ Local
Maternity-scandal trust to share chair with neighbour
A struggling acute trust has announced plans to share a chair with its neighbouring community provider.
- HSJ Local
Trusts red-listed because of failure to connect to ‘critical’ safety system
Some of the country’s largest trusts could be left without an automated safety incident reporting system when NHS England removes the existing solution next month, HSJ has learned.
- HSJ Local
ICS’s ‘disgraceful’ racism report goes unpublished for over a year
A council leader has described the findings of a report into racism at an integrated care system – which board leaders sat on for over a year – as “nothing short of a disgrace”.
- HSJ Local
No acute trust now rated ‘inadequate’ as CQC upgrades troubled provider
The last acute trust deemed “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission has had its rating improved to “requires improvement”, the regulator has announced today.