Updated 14 December 2023
The Cherwell Hospital, previously known as The Horton Treatment Centre, is an independent hospital located in Banbury. The hospital provides surgical services including ophthalmology in its 3 laminar flow theatres and surgical inpatient ward. The hospital also provides an outpatient service including physiotherapy and diagnostics including; MRI, x-ray and ultrasound. The offsite assessment started on 5 January 2024. We found the service was performing well and meeting expectations. We found there was an open and honest learning culture, incidents were used as an opportunity for improvement. The hospital provided safe systems and had developed detailed patient pathways to ensure positive outcomes and smooth transitions between services. Staff understood their role and responsibilities regarding safeguarding patients, their friends and families. There were systems and processes in place to ensure a safe environment. Staffing numbers and competencies were calculated to ensure safe and effective staffing. Staff and managers understood their role and responsibilities in ensuring a clean and safe environment. The hospital had introduced an in house pharmacist that maintained oversight of medicines and ensured safe storage, administration, documentation and disposal of medicines. There were also improvements since our last inspection, for example, surgical services now monitored use of the World Health Organisation Surgical Checklist, there were systems in place to label equipment as clean or soiled and the service now provided staff with step by step guidance and actions when medicine storage temperatures exceeded guidelines.