i. CQC should conduct without-notice inspections of hospital departments. Inspection
teams should include at least two current practising experts in the relevant field (in this
case paediatrics/neonatology).
ii. Inspectors should investigate what is happening in hospital departments and not accept
what they are told at face value. Where processes are being inspected, questions must
be asked to elicit the effectiveness of those processes.3
iii. Training should make explicit that CQC is responsible for ensuring the safety
of patients in hospitals and not just for checking there are processes in place which,
if implemented, should ensure patient safety. Inspectors and team leaders must always
approach an inspection of neonatal services not as a box-ticking exercise but as a way
to determine that babies in hospital are safe.