- NHS hospital
Colchester General Hospital
Report from 12 June 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings - Medical care (Including older people's care)
Our view of the service
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust was formed 1 July 2018 following the merger of Colchester Hospital University Foundation Trust and Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust. They provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people and are the largest NHS organisation in East Anglia, employing more than 12,000 staff.
The medical care services (including older people’s care) at Colchester Hospital have 256 medical inpatient beds located across 9 wards and units. We previously inspected on 3 November 2022 and found 4 breaches of regulations relating to safe care and treatment, premises and equipment, good governance and staffing.
On the 9 and 10 April 2025 we carried out an assessment of medical care (including older people’s care). This was a responsive assessment due to safeguarding concerns and emerging safety risk for people receiving care at Colchester General Hospital. We inspected 19 quality statements across safe, responsive, and well-led key questions.
During our assessment we spoke with staff, patients and families using the service. People we spoke with felt staff did their best in a busy service to provide care and felt confident to raise concerns. Staff did not always communicate effectively with people and people did not always receive timely care. Staff did not always have the skills and knowledge to safeguard patients. Sharing of incident learning was not always effective. The facilities and equipment met the needs of people, however staff did not always take infection prevention control measures to mitigate risks. Staff told us they were supported by their managers, but low staffing impacted on morale. Leaders told us that staffing was impacting on staff’s ability to deliver high-quality care. Nursing managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. However, medical staff were not fully compliant with mandatory training or regular annual appraisals.
During our assessment, we found concerns which resulted in breaches of regulation in which we served a warning notice. We found breaches in regulation relating to consent, safe care and treatment, safeguarding, good governance, and staffing. You can find more details of our concerns in the evidence category findings.
In instances where CQC has decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded.
People's experience of this service
People did not always receive care and treatment in a timely manner. They told us that staff were doing the best they could and were respectful. However, there were not enough staff to meet their care needs. For example, to provide support with feeding and support with personal care.
Patients told us they felt safe and knew how to raise concerns and make complaints. Apologies were offered when care and treatment was not in accordance with hospital policy.
Most patients knew what the plan was for their ongoing treatment and the reason for their admission was explained to them in a manner they understood. However, Healthwatch reported that the feedback they received often related to older people and their families not understanding discharge plans and a lack of communication.