- NHS hospital
Hospital of St Cross
Assessment report published 15 August 2025
Ratings - Surgery
Our view of the service
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW) provides both elective and emergency surgery to the population of Coventry and Warwickshire with a wider catchment area for specialist services.
The trust provides surgical services on sites at University Hospital, Coventry and the Hospital of St Cross, Rugby. Surgical services at the Hospital of St Cross shares the management and governance structures with the University Hospital Coventry and some information provided was available only at trust level. At Hospital of St Cross there were 6 operating theatres, a treatment room, an inpatient ward (cedar ward) and a day surgery unit. There were 41 beds located on cedar ward and the day surgery unit had 22 beds.
We conducted a planned unannounced on-site assessment of surgical services at the Hospital of St Cross on the 25 and 26 September 2024. We followed the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Single Assessment Framework and assessed against the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led key questions. As part of our assessment, we looked at 9 patient records, spoke with 8 patients, 5 relatives and 44 members of staff including the leadership team for surgery (known as the triumvirate), theatre manager, ward managers, scrub nurses, anaesthetists, consultants, healthcare assistants, recovery nurses and staff nurses.
The overall rating for this service was good. Safety was rated as requires improvement, but effective, caring, responsive and well-led were rated as good.
We found: There was a good safety culture where events were investigated, and learning was embedded to promote good practice. Staff delivered good care and treatment following evidence-based practice and people had good outcomes. Staff were kind, caring and compassionate. The service was inclusive and took account of patients' individual needs and preferences, People could access the service when they needed it and received the right care promptly. Leaders operated effective governance processes and used systems to manage performance effectively.
However: There were gaps in the completion of anaesthetic check logs, and this did not provide assurance that equipment was safe to use. Flooring within theatres was worn in areas and not always compliant with the Health Building Note for flooring requirements. Staff did not always monitor expiry dates of all equipment. The patient record system did not flag patients living with special needs.
People's experience of this service
Patients and their relatives were positive about the staff treating them with warmth and kindness and providing effective care and treatment. Patients were involved in decisions around their planned care and treatment, as well as the next steps of their treatment. Staff made sure patients living with learning disabilities and dementia received the necessary care to meet all their needs. Most people said communication with them was good, but some people said they would have appreciated more information around waiting times.