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CQC accused of ‘cover up’, ban considered on face-down restraint, and traffic light food labeling receives a boost

The CQC comes under fire in all the newspapers today, as the regulator is accused of covering up an internal review that looked at failures in its inspection of a hospital trust where 16 babies and two mothers died because of poor care. It is alleged that CQC officials deleted a dossier showing failings in their inspection of Morecambe Bay hospitals to protect the commission’s reputation.

CQC inspectors had previously passed the trust as ‘safe’ in 2010 despite the fact that multiple concerns were raised. The trust now faces at least 30 civil negligence claims and will be subject to a public independent inquiry.

The Government are considering banning the use of face-down restraint on mental health patients in England after it emerged that several trusts are employing the procedure two or three times a day, the Telegraph reports. The mental health charity Mind warns that the technique is dangerous and traumatic for patients.

However, figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the charity revealed that Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust recorded 923 incidents of face-down restraint and Southern Health NHS Foundation trust recorded 810 in 2011/12, the equivalent of two or three times a day.

Health minister Norman Lamb said he was ‘very interested’ in banning face down restraint.

The Guardian brings us the news that all the main supermarket chains and some of the biggest snack producers, such as PepsiCo and Nestle, have agreed to a front-of-pack traffic light-coded food label system to help consumers make healthy choices.

Foods will be labelled green, amber or red to indicate how much fat, salt and sugar an item contains and guideline daily amounts (GDAs) will be displayed on packages in a bid to improve health and stem the obesity crisis in the UK.

The consumer group Which? called the news a ‘big step forward’ but shadow public health minister Diane Abbot called on other companies who have refused to display the labels on their food to be ‘named and shamed’.