NHS Trust Faces Scrutiny Over Patient Safety and Backlogs

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NHS Trust Faces Scrutiny Over Patient Safety and Backlogs

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The Northern Care Alliance (NCA) NHS Foundation Trust, which operates hospitals including Salford Royal, Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital, and Rochdale Infirmary, is under renewed scrutiny regarding patient care. Newly published board papers from August 2026 reveal a backlog of around 430 complaints, with concerns raised about the declining rate at which these complaints and Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) cases are being resolved within target timescales. The trust notes that “increasingly lengthy” AI-generated complaints have contributed to this issue.

In August 2026, whistleblowers, including current and former NHS workers, raised fresh allegations of delayed treatment, overcrowded emergency departments, staffing shortages, and weaknesses in investigating patient safety incidents at the NCA. This follows an investigation by The Independent and Channel 4. Specific concerns include delays in diagnosing serious conditions like cancer, and patients with kidney problems experiencing treatment delays. It has also been alleged that some patients have been treated in corridors due to overcrowding.

The NCA has acknowledged these challenges and stated it is implementing changes, including placing more clinicians in leadership roles to directly influence decision-making and improvement efforts. The trust also emphasized its commitment to investigating incidents and learning from them to enhance patient safety.

These latest developments occur against a backdrop of ongoing regulatory pressure. NHS England took formal enforcement action against the NCA in June 2026 due to “fundamental failure in quality governance” and “escalating quality concerns over the previous 18 months.” The Care Quality Commission (CQC) also issued a Section 29A Warning Notice on August 13, 2026, citing significant concerns about risk management, patient safety, complaints, and workforce wellbeing. Earlier in 2026, the CQC identified “immediate patient safety concerns” in emergency care at Fairfield General Hospital.

Further compounding the situation, more than 350 theatre staff at NCA hospitals went on strike in August 2026 over a dispute concerning overtime payments, leading the trust to declare a critical incident and cancel several hundred operations. Recent board papers also indicated that 28 deaths were linked to lengthy delays last year, with 56 cases of “severe harm” and 10 deaths linked to diagnostic problems. Additionally, ten “never events”—wholly preventable patient safety incidents—were recorded across 2025 and 2026.

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