- NHS hospital
Warwick Hospital
Assessment report published 7 April 2026
Contents
Ratings - Urgent and emergency services
Our view of the service
The Urgent and Emergency department at Warwick Hospital provides 24-hour services, seven days per week to the local population of Warwickshire and surrounding areas. The emergency department (ED) consists of majors’ cubicles, a minor injury service, a paediatric department and one paediatric and 3 adult resuscitation bays. The department also has a clinical decision unit (CDU) for patients awaiting decisions regarding admission or discharge following diagnostic procedures and an ambulance handover area, where patients being admitted by ambulance are initially assessed and clerked. Patients present to the department either by walking into the reception area or arriving by ambulance via a dedicated ambulance only entrance.
During the inspection, we visited all areas of the ED. We reviewed the environment, staffing levels and looked at care records and prescription records. We spoke with patients and family members and staff of different grades, including nurses, doctors, and senior managers responsible for the ED. We reviewed performance information about the trust. We observed how care and treatment was provided.
We inspected 24 quality statements across the key questions Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led and have combined the score for each of these areas to give an updated rating. We rated this service as Good overall.
Date of Assessment:
We carried out an assessment of Urgent and Emergency Services at Warwick Hospital on 18 and 19 March as part of our system pathway pressures programme. We inspected 24 quality statements across the key questions Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led and have combined the score for each of these areas to give the rating.
During this inspection, we visited the urgent and emergency care department. We reviewed the environment and staffing levels and looked at care records and prescription records.We spoke with staff across all grades in the department, and staff who worked with the department from other areas of the hospital. We reviewed performance information about the trust. We observed how care and treatment was provided.
At our last inspection in 2019, Urgent and Emergency Services at Warwick Hospital was rated as outstanding overall and in responsive and well led and good in safe, effective and caring.
At this inspection, we found 3 breaches of legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing and governance. Paediatric service users were not always safe in the emergency department. There were not sufficient numbers of suitably trained and qualified staff to treat and care for paediatric patients in the ED and oversight of paediatric staffing was poor.
Following our assessment, we took civil enforcement action to address these issues. In response, the trust provided assurances of actions they have taken and plan to take to address these areas and make improvements.
People were supported to have choice and could give feedback on their care. We found examples of good care and patients felt they were treated with kindness. The trust took a system-wide approach to improvement. People were able to access services when they needed them.
However, learning culture was not always positive, and action was not always taken to address concerns, incidents or themes. There were not always enough staff to ensure people’s safety and meet their needs. Care and treatment was not always planned with people. There was not always a clear system of governance and risk management, and audits were not always in place to provide assurances or identify areas for improvement.
System Lens Findings
Leaders worked with other services, including local ambulances, to address challenges the service and local system faced and offer support.
The trust harnessed partnership working with communities to make a positive impact for people. For example, the service had worked collaborative with the local Fire and Rescue Service to improve patients’ discharges.
People's experience of this service
Overall patients and families we spoke with were positive about the service and care they had received. We observed staff providing treatment to patients in a caring and supportive way, and patients told us they felt safe and cared for.
Patients had a good impression of the service, and some chose this service despite it being an hour from their home as they considered this a better option than their local service.
In the CQC Urgent and Emergency Care Survey the trust scored somewhat better, better or much than expected for 16 out of 27 questions in the type 1 survey. This included all the questions in the sections on interactions with doctors and nurses, care and treatment and communication about tests. The trust’s scores for the question on patients feeling that they were treated with respect and dignity, and overall experience whilst in A&E were both better than expected. Staff were described as caring and professional in the Family and Friends Test (FFT) results and in compliments received by the department. FTT was consistently in the top quartile for both positive experience and response rate.
However, FFT results also showed some areas for improvement around long waiting times. Some patients told us they waited a long time in chairs which was uncomfortable, and they weren’t always kept up to date with the plan for their care.