The health watchdog that damned the NHS 's first privately run hospital ignored a spot check by its own inspectors that found huge improvements in standards . The vital findings have been suppressed for nearly four months , and have only emerged now after the Care Quality Commission quietly revised its report to rate many of the hospital 's services as 'good ' . In January the commission branded Hinchingbrooke in Cambridgeshire as 'inadequate ' and placed it in special measures , along with a dozen of the worst hospitals in the country . But today the watchdog will upgrade this to 'requires improvement ' and publish a glowing report . In January the commission branded Hinchingbrooke in Cambridgeshire as 'inadequate ' Experts say it is further evidence that the inspection was flawed and a stitch-up by Labour Party activists and trade unionists who oppose privatisation . The new version of the report rates the hospital as 'good ' in 18 out of 33 criteria that were assessed including its outpatients departments and overall standard of end-of-life care . It also praises a number of the hospital 's departments and individuals as 'outstanding ' including its maternity ward , intensive care unit , specialist children 's nurse in A & E and the chaplain . Crucially , the report – a draft of which has been leaked to the Mail – shows that the CQC ignored a second , far more positive spot check of the hospital when it published its initial report . In January – a week before the first report came out – inspectors returned to check up on two wards where they had raised concerns about standards of care during a visit in September . They found major improvements and praised nurses for treating patients with dignity and respect , responding promptly to call bells and ensuring patients were not in pain . Yet the watchdog ignored these findings when placing the hospital in special measures . Hinchingbrooke – which serves 160,000 patients in Huntingdon – was controlled by the private firm Circle from February 2012 until last month . NHS patients were treated there as usual but Circle – rather than NHS managers – was in charge of the day-to-day running of the hospital and its budget . The firm was praised for driving down waiting times , lowering the death rate , reducing infections and improving overall care . After January 's report Circle announced it would be withdrawing from its contract . The hospital is now being run by the NHS Trust Development Authority . The rating of 'requires improvement ' in the revised report moves the hospital from the bottom 13 per cent of hospital trusts in the country to an average score , which is achieved by 59 per cent of organisations . Today the watchdog will upgrade the 'inadequate ' finding to 'requires improvement ' and publish a glowing report . The Mail has repeatedly highlighted concerns by MPs and doctors that the inspection was flawed and a sabotage attempt by those opposed to privatisation . One of the inspectors was a member of the campaign group Keep Our NHS Public . Another was a senior figure in the British Medical Association , the doctors ' trade union , who had previously spoken out about the dangers of private firms ' involvement in the NHS . Neither took part in the spot checks a week before January 's report . Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman said : 'This is an extraordinary procedure and raises serious questions about how the CQC goes about its inspections . 'It 's an admission by the watchdog that its first inspection report was over the top and far too tough . It 's all been heavily influenced by the public service unions . I will be writing to the Health Secretary to demand a full investigation into whether this was a stitch-up . ' A spokesman for Circle said : 'This vindicates our view that the inspection of Hinchingbrooke was flawed . The evidence has always been that Hinchingbrooke was a good hospital , with low mortality rates , low waiting times , and positive reviews from other NHS regulators . '
Hinchingbrooke damned the NHS 's first privately run hospital . But it ignored its own inspectors ' spot check that found improvements . In January the commission branded The Care Quality Commission as 'inadequate ' Today the commission will upgrade this and publish a glowing report .