Source · CQC inspection

The Whittington Hospital

Provider Whittington Health NHS Trust Type NHS Healthcare Organisation Region London Last inspected 6 Mar 2026

Overall rating: Requires Improvement View full CQC report

Domain ratings

Five CQC key questions

Safe

Requires Improvement

Effective

Good

Caring

Good

Responsive

Good

Well-led

Requires Improvement

Current CQC assessment

Single Assessment Framework

From 2024 CQC rates services through ongoing assessments rather than comprehensive inspections.

Requires Improvement Assessed 6 March 2026

The service is not performing as well as it should and we have told the service how it must improve.

Whittington Hospital provides acute services to over 490,000 people living in Islington and Haringey, as well as other surrounding London boroughs including Barnet, Enfield, Camden and Hackney. From October 2024 to September 2025, there were over 100,000 attendances at the department. From October 2024 to September 2025, there were 18,617 ambulance attendances. From October 2024 to September 2025, there were 2766 patients attending with mental health conditions. On average 13% of patients attending the ED are admitted to the hospital. Whittington Health NHS Trust has an emergency department (ED) and …

Ratings by service

Urgent and emergency services

Requires Improvement

Oct 2025

Earlier inspection findings

pre-2024 framework · 3 must-do 5 should-do

Must-do actions (3)

Legal requirements based on regulation breaches identified during inspection.

Must-do action 1 of 3

Must do

Safe

The trust must ensure medical staff are up to date with the maternity mandatory training modules.

Regulation: Regulation 12(1)(2)(c)

⚠ Not all medical staff had training in key skills, with only 60% completing all mandatory training courses, which was below the trust’s 90% target.

Must-do action 2 of 3

Must do

Safe

The trust must ensure that medical staff, maternity theatre and support workers staff were trained to safeguarding level 3.

Regulation: Regulation 12(2)(c)

⚠ Not all staff had completed their level 3 safeguarding training; medical staff were only trained to level 2 safeguarding children, and staff in maternity theatre to level 2 safeguarding adult and children's training, against a trust target of 90% for level 3.

Must-do action 3 of 3

Must do

Safe

The trust must ensure that the service uses a systematic approach for risk assessing women attending triage.

Regulation: Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(b)

⚠ There was no systematic approach to prioritising women and birthing people who attended triage, and staff did not always use national guidance to assess and prioritise them based on clinical urgency.

Should-do actions (5)

Recommended improvements to enhance service quality.

Should-do action 1 of 5

Should do

Well-led

The trust should ensure that staff complete patient records and risk assessments appropriately such as the Modified Early Obstetric Warning Score (MEOWS) and fresh eyes.

Regulation: Regulation 17(1)(2)(b)(c)

Should-do action 2 of 5

Should do

Well-led

The trust should ensure policies, guidelines and procedures are reviewed and follow national guidance.

Regulation: Regulation 17(1)(2)(a)(f)

Should-do action 3 of 5

Should do

Safe

The trust should ensure an environmental risk assessment is carried in all maternity areas and emergency call bells are ligature free.

Regulation: Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(b)

Should-do action 4 of 5

Should do

Safe

The trust should ensure there is a dedicated maternity triage line and staffing cover to ensure the safety of women.

Regulation: Regulation 12(1)(2)(c)(Regulation 18)

Should-do action 5 of 5

Should do

Caring

The service should consider a more suitable environment for women who have had a baby loss, until the formal plan for the bereavement suite comes to fruition.