The Beaumont Hospital

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

We rated well-led as good.

The service had an inclusive and positive culture of continuous learning and improvement that was based on meeting the needs of people who used services and wider communities.

There were governance systems and processes in place to monitor outcomes and patient safety, lessons learned were disseminated at a local and national level. Staff we spoke to were positive about the leadership culture across the organisation, they said senior leaders were visible and accessible.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service had a clear a strategy and vision and had engaged staff in these through listening events. Staff in the outpatient’s department had created a departmental vision based on the hospital vision and values. Staff we spoke with were positive about the service; they felt included in changes and could offer suggestions to improve services.

The service had capable and compassionate inclusive leaders, the team communication cell each day ensured that everyone was heard, and any concerns were escalated. Senior leaders were reported to be visible by staff we spoke with, and they had support from their immediate line managers. There was a management programme in place for managers and aspiring managers and staff told us they had been encouraged to attend.

The service had a culture where staff said they could speak up; they had recently appointed a new freedom to speak up guardian (FTSUG). Staff knew who the FTSUG was, and they said they would be confident speaking up to senior staff. The freedom to speak up guardian had introduced a box where staff could put anonymous feedback.

The provider had a workforce race equality standard (WRES) Action Plan 2024-2025. There were 5 actions regarding WRES data and most actions had been completed. This included the improvement of diversity data and self-reporting by ethnicity, other diversity information and protected characteristics.

Staff we spoke to felt valued and were able to offer their ideas to improve the service.

The service had a clear governance structure and an ongoing audit programme in place. Audit results were shared and acted on by the department and managers showed us their associated action plans. Managers had support from the clinical educator and the governance lead to take forward new ideas. The outpatients and physiotherapy manager were both included in relevant governance meetings such as the heads of department meetings, this meant they had oversight of risk at a corporate and departmental level.

Staff told us they received information through the daily communication cell where any daily risks and actions were shared.

The highest departmental risk identified was the lack of space which was preventing them from increasing clinic capacity. A proposal for a new site for outpatients and physiotherapy had not been successful. The service was exploring the possibility of an off-site outpatient facility to increase overall capacity.

The referral to treatment (RTT) team had a tracker system in place which provided oversight of waiting times which was reviewed by the management team weekly. They had recently stopped taking referrals for gynaecology as the longest waiting time was 52 weeks. Patients could choose another hospital to be referred to but had chosen to stay on the waiting list at the Beaumont.

The service understood their duty to collaborate. They worked in partnership with the local system including the NHS trust and the local safeguarding board, this enabled them to understand the requirements of the local health population. The RTT team had worked with the local NHS trust to identify patients who could be appropriately treated at the hospital to support the trust to shorten waiting times for NHS patients. The physiotherapy department had capacity to treat more people and were working with local GPs, and a local sports club, to promote their service and provide health information sessions.

The provider gave staff opportunities to learn across their networks, the outpatient’s manager had attended the annual conference.

The service actively promoted improving peoples' experience. Staff were proactive at looking at the patient journey and identifying areas for improvement.

A nurse led pessary clinic had been introduced in response to women experiencing long waiting times. The service was co-designed with consultants in direct response to patient feedback, aligning with best practice. This had reduced waiting times and provided access in a locality where gynaecology provision was limited. There had been a positive response from people who used the service and had provided a meaningful opportunity to upskill nursing staff. This practice had been shared at a national level as best practice to promote the introduction at other sites that delivered NHS gynaecology care.

The outpatient's department nursing staff had attended a wound management course to improve their skills on postoperative wound care.

A staff member said, "it feels like there have been big changes over the last 2 years and staff have been able to develop ideas\".

The physiotherapy team had reduced the length of stay of patients through early mobilisation of people postoperatively.