We have responded to a report from the Patients Association that highlights the cases of 16 people who experienced poor standards of care while in hospital.
 
Barbara Young, Chairman of the Care Quality Commission, said: "It is absolutely right to highlight that standards of hospital care can vary from very good to poor. 

"Many people are happy with the care they receive, but we also know that there are problems.  Matters related to the dignity of care are of particular concern to patients and their families.  And poor basic nursing is a recurring theme in organisations that perform badly. I am in no doubt that many hospitals need to raise their game in this area.

"As the regulator, CQC is dedicated to helping eliminate poor practice and to ensuring care focuses on people as individuals and on their needs. 

"This is why we are doing more to ensure that the views of patients have greater weight in our assessments.  Next year, we will introduce a new registration scheme for all NHS trusts. This means they must - to be allowed to provide services - meet new essential quality standards, including in the area of dignity.  We will also conduct special reviews across the system on issues where the evidence tells us there is poor quality of care.

"Where NHS trusts fail to meet the mark, we have tough new enforcement powers, ranging from warnings and fines to closure in extreme cases.  We will not hesitate to use these powers when necessary to bring improvement.

"We already survey the views of 80,000 patients every year covering every acute hospital in the country.  This is among the thousands of pieces of data that we collect and analyse every day to keep tabs on performance. In addition, we also inspect at least one in five trusts to check on core standards. And we carry out inspection programmes on other issues of public concern, such as healthcare-associated infection.

"The primary responsibility for ensuring patients' needs are met - in a safe way that respects them as individuals - lies with providers and commissioners of services. We will be asking NHS trusts and primary care trusts how they are ensuring that the needs of patients and their safety and dignity are kept at the heart of care."