Three in four hospitals in England are failing, the health regulator has claimed in a damning report.
According to the first set of Ofsted-style official rankings, 76 per cent of NHS hospital trusts have been given an overall rating of 'inadequate' or 'requiring improvement'.
The Care Quality Commission said its greatest concern was safety, with three quarters of the hospitals it analysed deemed unsafe, reports the Daily Telegraph. It said its findings showed "an unacceptable level of poor care" across the country.
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The watchdog discovered that casualty cases had been left in makeshift huts outside A&E, with other patients given the wrong drugs or illegally sedated. It also warned of a culture of blame and bullying, under which staff were too terrified to raise concerns or admit mistakes.
The commission rated 98 hospital trusts – two thirds of those across the country – and gave just two trusts the top ranking of 'outstanding', with 22 judged to be 'good', 64 'requiring improvement' and ten 'inadequate'.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the findings were "very worrying", while Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the report showed "severe and alarming" variations in the quality of care, which "requires urgent attention".
Labour's health spokesperson, Heidi Alexander, said: "Jeremy Hunt cannot keep ignoring these serious warnings about unsafe and understaffed hospitals."
Hunt said: "There are some excellent examples of high quality care across the country but the level of variation is unacceptable."
The picture is more positive for nursing homes and GP practices. Of 2,211 residential and nursing homes, 59 per cent were found to be providing 'good' or 'outstanding' care, while just four per cent of GP practices inspected were deemed inadequate.
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