- NHS hospital
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital
On 21 November 2024, we published a report on Birmingham Heartlands Hospital. The assessment looked at medical and surgery services but did not award overall ratings to these or the hospital overall. You can read the full report in the document below. We will update this page with the results of this assessment soon.
- Birmingham Heartlands Hospital assessment report (rating: not rated)
Assessment report published 28 August 2025
Contents
Ratings - Services for children & young people
Our view of the service
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital is part of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust which is one of the largest teaching hospital trusts in England. A merger in 2018 included the Birmingham Heartlands Hospital site.
The hospital's children and young people's service has 2 wards, ward 16 (which consists of the inpatient ward) and ward 15 which includes paediatric assessment unit (PAU). There was also a high dependency unit (HDU), children's outpatients for paediatrics, and transitional care for neonates. The children's HDU is a specialised area in the hospital that provides a level of care between a standard hospital ward and the intensive care unit. These wards accommodated children and young people from birth to 16 years of age. We also inspected the neonatal unit which included a neonatal intensive care unit, critical care and special care unit.
Children and young people were assessed on the PAU (ward 15) for further care and treatment to be identified. After, children would either be able to be treated on the ward or discharged home. The neonatal unit looked after new-born babies who needed extra support.
We carried out this assessment as the children and young people's service at this site had not been rated since the trust was established in 2018. This was a comprehensive assessment, and we assessed quality statements across safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led. We rated the service overall as good. However, the service has been rated requires improvement for safe. The other key questions of caring, effective, responsive and well-led have been rated as good.
A CQC team of 2 inspectors, 1 CQC senior specialist in People with a Learning Disability and Autism and 2 specialist advisors carried out the assessment. We spoke with 20 staff members including senior nursing staff, ward managers, sisters and healthcare assistants. We met with doctors and consultants, domestic cleaning staff, nurses and student nurses. Also, the lead for asthma, the transition lead, the diabetes team, safeguarding leads, and the mental health champion. We also spoke with staff from an external agency offering support to a young person on the ward. During the assessment we spoke with 10 patients with consent and some family members and carers. We reviewed 15 patient records.
The assessment included a member of the medicines team. The medicines team visited ward 16, the HDU and the neonatal unit. They spoke with 3 nurses, inspected clinic rooms and administration records and associated care records for 12 patients.
People's experience of this service
The children, young people and their carers gave positive feedback about their experience and told us they were happy with the care provided. We saw patients being treated with care, dignity, and compassion.
Records of patients care and treatment were well documented and clearly identified what treatment had taken place. The next steps were clearly identified.
Children and young people were supported to receive their prescribed medicines in a way that met their individual needs.