- NHS hospital
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Assessment report published 3 June 2026
Contents
Ratings - Medical care (Including older people's care)
Our view of the service
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust provide medical care services at both the Lewisham Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital sites. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital has 15 medical wards and 377 inpatient beds.
We last inspected medical care services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 11 February-11 March 2020, and we rated the medical care service at this inspection as good overall.
We conducted this announced assessment on 24 and 25 February 2026 as part of our winter pressure programme, which meant we looked at a reduced number of quality statements. We visited 5 wards, a discharge lounge, and same day emergency care (SDEC). We spoke with 45 members of staff, including healthcare assistants, ward clerks, domestic workers, nurses, matrons, doctors, and senior leaders.
We rated the service as good. The service had made improvements to medicines management, mandatory and safeguarding training, out of hours medical cover and the planning and management of the service experiencing full capacity. However, we found 5 breaches of the regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and governance. Patients who were no longer suitable for corridor care were not transferred in a timely manner, risk assessments were not always completed in line with trust guidance, clinical areas did not always follow national fire safety guidance infection, prevention and control (IPC) principles were not always followed, and patient confidentiality was not always maintained.
We have requested an action plan in response to the above breaches from the provider at the time of publication of the formal report.
People's experience of this service
Patients, their families, and carers were positive about their interactions with staff and the treatment they received. All patients, carers and families we spoke with reported that staff were friendly, and that they were treated with compassion and kindness. Most patients were aware of the plan for their ongoing treatment, and the reason for their admission was explained to them in a manner they understood.
Patients we spoke with reported that staff were very respectful, very caring and patients never felt rushed as they take their time to explain things.
Patients knew how to make complaints and give compliments about the service. The Family and Friends test had an average rate of 325 responses each month across all medical inpatient wards. Data for the last 12 months showed that 94% of respondents were positive about the care received and only 2% of patients reported experiencing poor care.