Update on our action plan: three-month milestones

To accompany this, we published our action plan ‘Learning, accountability and change’, which details how we will address the failings identified within the report and implement the necessary improvements across our Trust.

We apologise unreservedly to the patients and families affected by this incident. Through our action plan, we are committed to delivering Verita’s recommendations in full. We recognise that this is a critical first step in regaining the trust of our patients.

As part of our commitment to transparency and accountability, we are publishing this update on the progress we have made against the commitments in the plan. We have met all the actions and necessary changes that we said we would deliver within the first three months.

These early steps make sure that we have strong foundations in place to improve patient safety, clinical oversight and staff accountability, and we are ensuring that learning from the Verita investigation leads to real and lasting change.

Our work is focused on four areas:

1) Management and support for doctors

• A new job planning policy to help consultant doctors set their specific duties, responsibilities and objectives for the upcoming year has been put in place. This is supporting a more proactive and transparent approach to how doctors’ time is committed.
• We have begun work to define clear expectations for medical line managers. This is addressing issues highlighted in the Verita report and strengthening consistency across the Trust in areas such as supporting and supervising staff, managing performance and behaviours, staff wellbeing and ongoing learning and development.
• A review of the consultant appraisal process has been completed, with improvements planned to strengthen oversight, clarify boundaries between appraisal and line management, and introduce structured training and support for appraisers.

2) Improving governance for the safety and effectiveness of clinical services

• We held a workshop to establish Patient Advisory Boards in January 2026, bringing together patients and their families, Healthwatch and partner organisations. The first meeting of the adult board will be held at the end of February, chaired by a parent. This will help to ensure that the voice of patients and families plays a greater role in decision making.
• We have introduced a new policy for multi-disciplinary team meetings across the Trust. These meetings are vital for how our clinical teams work together and make the best decisions for patients.
• An exercise has been completed to understand the challenges in, and to prioritise support for, complex services across the Trust.
• An external review has been undertaken by NHS England of our quality governance processes. This review has made a number of recommendations to strengthen our structures, some of which have already been implemented including changes to a number of key meetings. The rest will be pulled together in a detailed improvement plan for implementation over the coming months.
• Work is ongoing to agree expectations for all managers in relation to safety and quality. This will address issues highlighted in the Verita report relating to patient safety and will be consistent with the principles within the upcoming Trust Strategy.

3) Effective oversight of clinical reviews

• A new procedure is in place for when external reviews are commissioned. The procedure makes sure that there is a consistent approach to decision making, transparency and putting robust improvement plans in place.

4) Medical culture and tackling poor behaviours

• A Board-led Culture Task and Finish Group has been established to focus on how to improve medical working culture at the Trust.
• We have promoted opportunities for medical staff to share concerns and experiences through forums, meetings and specialty engagement, with further external listening work planned.
• We have improved how we communicate and engage with patients based on their direct feedback as well as advice from patient-centred organisations like Healthwatch. These improvements include proactively calling patients to understand how they have been impacted and holding listening events with members of the executive team.

Oversight of the improvements we are making

To make sure the delivery of our action plan has oversight from our partners, we reported progress to the dedicated Oversight Board on February 11th, which includes representatives from NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, Healthwatch, GMC and the Integrated Care Board alongside CUH Executive and Non-Executive Directors. We will continue to do this as we progress.

Involving patients and families

We understand that rebuilding trust takes time, but we want to thank everyone who has taken the time to share feedback and experiences with us. These have been invaluable in shaping the way that we offer support and deliver services.

CUH’s new Chief Executive, Nicola Ayton has written to patients and families in a recent letter. Within this, she shared details of a Verita action plan progress update and listening event for patients and families. This will be led by Nicola, Sue Broster, our Chief Medical Officer, and Lorraine Szeremeta, our Chief Nurse. We would really welcome you sharing your experiences through this session if you wish.

This session is being held on 5th March 2026 from 6pm – 7pm on Microsoft Teams. If you would like to attend, please email us at cuh.communications@nhs.net. We will send you a link to join the session, and there will be more sessions of this kind in the future.

Ongoing support for patients and families

We recognise the impact the incident, the publication of the Verita report and the ongoing clinical reviews may have had, and are continuing to have, on affected patients and their families. Our dedicated Patient and Family Liaison team remain on hand to support you and answer any questions you might have:

• Opening hours: Monday – Friday between 9am – 4pm
• Phone: 07719 407 210
• Email: cuh.familyliaison@nhs.net

Next steps

We will continue to provide updates on our progress against the wider ‘Learning, Accountability and Change’ action plan, including the improvements due at six months and 12 months.