A world-leading cancer centre hit by allegations of bullying and harassment has had its rating downgraded.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) downgraded The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester from “outstanding” to “good” after an unannounced inspection.

It comes after a previous external review, commissioned by NHS England in 2020, found current and former staff had reported “instances of inappropriate behaviours and unfair treatment… feeling intimidated… the existence of cliques, the abuse of positional power”.

“An experience of bullying, harassment and racial prejudice was described along with lack of respect at work,” reviewers added.

The new CQC report said the trust “requires improvement” in safety and leadership and that staff had told inspectors that some senior executives were “not always visible or approachable”.

“Very senior executives were heavily invested in the promotion and protection of the trust’s reputation,” the report said.

“This impacted negatively on some staff; staff did not always feel supported and valued.

“A minority of staff expressed reservations about raising concerns and others did not always feel listened to. Although, staff remained focused on the needs of patients receiving care.”

The CQC also did an announced inspection in addition to the unannounced visit “due to information of concern received from whistleblowers regarding the culture and leadership of the trust”.

It said it carried out the unannounced inspection of the acute medical services at the Christie’s main site as part of its “continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services”.

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However, the regulator said inspectors also found outstanding practice at the trust and that, in medical care, “we found staff treated people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and met people’s individual needs”.

The Christie is the largest single-site cancer centre in Europe and treats more than 60,000 people a year.

It serves a population of 3.2 million people across Greater Manchester and Cheshire but more than a quarter of people treated there are referred from elsewhere in the UK.

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