- NHS hospital
The Countess of Chester Hospital
Assessment report published 31 July 2026
Contents
Ratings - Urgent and emergency services
Our view of the service
We carried out an unannounced on-site, comprehensive assessment of urgent and emergency care services at The Countess of Chester Hospital on 27 to 29 October 2025.
We carried out this assessment to review the progress made against a Warning Notice that was served to the trust following the inspection in February 2025.
We visited the following areas as part of this assessment:
- The Countess of Chester Hospital Emergency Department
- The Countess of Chester Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre
The service was previously in breach of the legal regulations in relation to dignity and respect, safeguarding from abuse and improper treatment, premises and equipment, governance and staffing.
We looked at 13 sets of patient clinical records; we spoke with 10 patients and their family members or friends; and we spoke with 43 members of staff.
We found the service had made improvements and had met some of the actions of the warning notices.
However, the service remained in breach of 5 regulations related to good governance, staffing, safe care and treatment, premises and equipment and person-centred care.
We rated the services as requires improvement.
Key issues included insufficient staffing in the paediatric emergency department, the completion of risk assessments and streaming processes from the Emergency Department (ED) were not always safe. Staff did not consistently follow best practices for infection prevention. Governance and leadership were not always effective, with repeated failures to address known risks, including some issues which had not been addressed after multiple inspections.
However, the service demonstrated a strong commitment to learning and staff wellbeing. There was a notable change in the culture of the department with staff interactions being kind and compassionate. Safeguarding systems were effective, and staff showed professional curiosity in identifying risks. The service also engaged in regional partnerships showing a willingness to innovate and improve patient flow and care delivery.
We requested an action plan following publication of the final report.
People's experience of this service
People using the service and their families expressed mostly positive experiences of their care. Patients, families and carers we spoke with were positive about the staff describing them as kind, caring and supportive. People commented on the long waits in the department. Despite this, most people told us they felt safe and expressed confidence in staff’s clinical abilities and appreciated the support they received once attended to. We reviewed feedback from people collected by the service as part of the ward accreditation which demonstrated that people’s expectations had been met with regards to personal, cultural, social, and religious needs.
While the people we spoke with told us they were happy with their care, our assessment found elements of the care which did not meet the expected standards.