The government is being urged to regulate healthcare at big events like concerts and music festivals to prevent 'unsafe care, abuse and deaths'.
Joyce Frederick, Care Quality Commission (CQC) director of policy and strategy, revealed at the continuing Manchester Arena Inquiry it had been lobbying the Department of Health and Social Care to bring the 'unregulated' sector under its sphere, to enable it to take action against poor providers.
The damning second report of inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders heaped criticism on Arena operator SMG and its contracted medical services provider at the time, Emergency Training UK (ETUK). He said their relationship didn't operate as it should have, adding: "In relation to healthcare, inadequate consideration was given to the welfare of the event-goers."
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Ten years before the 2017 blast, which killed 22 people after an Ariana Grande concert, Arena operators SMG contracted out medical and first aid services on concert nights to ETUK. It has now been replaced by another provider, Medicare.
Ms Frederick, at a hearing to see if organisations have learned lessons from the failures uncovered during the inquiry, agreed the CQC can only take action in areas the body is empowered to regulate.
Since 2019, the CQC has been proposing to change the rules to remove an exemption and bring healthcare providers at events into its remit, the inquiry heard.
Ms Frederick said it was the CQC's 'number one priority'.
The witness agreed with counsel to the inquiry Paul Greaney KC that the proposal had been prompted by 'unsafe care, abuse and deaths related to the events healthcare sector'.
She said the Department of Health had embarked on a review but it had been paused. Ms Frederick agreed the sector was 'unregulated'.
Sir John said the state of affairs 'doesn't sound great' but that the department was due to answer questions on this tomorrow.
If the exemption was removed for healthcare at the events sector, the same standards would apply as in other areas, agreed the witness.
Ms Frederick said any breach within the events sector, if the exemption was removed, could result in criminal action.
The inquiry resumes tomorrow when an official from the Department for Health is due to answer questions.
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