The NHS in Kingston has blamed technicalities for failing to prove it is training staff to spot signs of child abuse in the wake of the Baby P scandal.
Kingston Hospital insisted it had trained staff to spot signs of child abuse but had been unable to show a database to prove it to the Care Quality Commission, an independent watchdog, while Kingston Primary Care Trust pointed to a six month gap where it could not find a GP willing to train others.
Both have been named among just 29 NHS organisations across the country which failed to meet safeguarding standards.
In Baby P’s case, NHS workers missed dozens of opportunities to identify the abuse he was suffering due to staff shortages, poor communication, insufficient training and failures to stick to correct procedures.
A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report issued on Wednesday identified "worrying shortfalls" nationally in the numbers of staff up to date with training and identified both the hospital and the PCT on its list.
Cynthia Bower, CQC chief executive, said: "It is clear that safeguarding has not been as high on the agenda of trust boards as it should have been.
"And that has meant, in some cases, that NHS staff have not been given the support they need in terms of training and clear procedures for handling concerns. If that were to change, it would be an appropriate legacy for Baby Peter."
CQC inspectors will follow up with trusts which were non-compliant.
In the future all trusts could face fines or even closure if they do not.
Between April and October, no GP within the Kingston Primary Care Trust area could be found to volunteer to run training sessions for other GPs in spotting the signs of abuse.
A PCT spokesman said: "We now have someone permanent as a child protection lead."
Helen Dirilen, hospital director of nursing, said: "For the financial year 2008-09 we did not have a complete record of training data for us to positively confirm that all staff requiring up to date training received it, hence our declaration of insufficient assurance."
Since then it has given up-to-date training to 89 per cent of its nurses and 80 per cent of its consultants putting it on track to meet its targets by December 2010.
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