England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust as Good following an inspection by the CQC in August 2016.
During the inspection the team looked at all of the services provided by the trust. This included areas where the trust had been required to make improvements following a previous inspection in April 2015, when it was rated as Requires Improvement overall.
The full reports, including ratings for the trust’s core services, are available on the website.
The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Sir Mike Richards said:
“Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust were placed into special measures in 2013, and it should be acknowledged how far they have come in three years.
“At our previous inspection in April 2015 we found improvements but were still concerned about the safety, effectiveness and responsiveness of some services, particularly in medical care.
“We undertook our most recent inspection in August 2016 to ensure the improvements we found in April 2015 were being sustained, and to check on the trust’s progress with areas that had been highlighted for improvement.
“It is clear the trust has worked hard to address the issues we raised, and I am pleased to be able to change its rating from Requires Improvement to Good.
“This rating amendment reflects the changes the trust has made. This time we saw a trust with a much improved approach to safety, training, and mortality rates, and one that was addressing staff shortages through initiatives including partnership working, in a proactive and sustainable way.
“We saw big improvements in urgent and emergency care. The department’s handling of a major incident which occurred during our inspection was very impressive and ensured patients were treated in the safest and most appropriate way possible.
“We were impressed with the improvements we saw and the staff at Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust should be proud with the new rating. However, there is still some work to do to ensure that the trust can sustain these changes and CQC has also told the trust where it must make further improvements.
“Our inspectors will return to check on progress with those improvements at a later date.”
Inspectors saw a number of areas of outstanding practice including:
A programme for supporting pregnant women with alcohol consumption problems.
The radiology department offered a virtual post mortem service where a CT scan could determine a person’s cause of death. As well as speeding up the process of determining causes of death, it respected the religious and cultural needs of the local population. These scans were carried out at night and people who had died were transported to the unit via a private corridor.
For end of life care the trust had direct access to electronic information held by community services, including GPs, which meant hospital staff could access up to date patient information, such as details of their current medicines.
However there are areas where the CQC has told the trust it must make improvements:
The trust must ensure there are sufficient numbers of nursing staff available to meet the needs of patients.
Fridges used to store medication must be kept at the required temperature.
Ensure there is at least one nurse on duty on the children’s ward who is trained and up to date in Advanced Paediatric Life Support on each shift.
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For further information, please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Kerri James by email at kerri.james@cqc.org.uk or by phone on 07464 92 9966.
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