- NHS hospital
Calderdale Royal Hospital
Assessment report published 11 August 2026
Contents
Ratings - Urgent and emergency services
Our view of the service
Calderdale Royal Hospital provided urgent and emergency care services to the population of Halifax and the wider community. Calderdale Royal Hospital emergency department (ED) is based in Halifax and is part of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.
We carried out an unannounced on site inspection of urgent and emergency care services on 2, 3, 4 February 2026 as part of our preparation for the well led inspection. We assessed this service using our single inspection framework and looked at all key questions and quality statements.
At our last inspection in 2018 we rated urgent and emergency care as good overall and for all domains other than Safe which we rated as requires improvement.
We visited the major treatment area, minor injuries, high dependency unit (HDU), the resuscitation area, waiting room and same day emergency care (SDEC) areas as part of this inspection. We spoke with patients who used the service and their family members, staff, including nurses, health care assistants, advanced care practitioners, resident doctors, security staff, receptionists, consultants and senior managers. We also spoke with paramedics bringing patients to the department and pharmacy staff. We observed care and treatment, inspected adult and paediatric patients’ care records in each area we visited, and reviewed the trust’s audits and performance reports and governance minutes.
We rated the service as requires improvement overall. We found continued breaches of regulations in relation to recording and administration of medicines and the management of patients presenting with poor mental health.
We identified new breaches of regulation. These included concerns about infection prevention and control, such as poor bare‑below‑the‑elbow compliance and unsafe practice, consent and governance.
The service was in breach of the legal regulations relating to Staffing, Safe Care and Treatment, Consent and Good Governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this inspection.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 12 patients, their loved ones and carers during our inspection of the service. We also reviewed a range of patient experience information, including Friends and Family Test (FFT)feedback and CQC national patient survey results.
Most people we spoke with were positive about their experience and consistently praised the professionalism, kindness and compassion shown by all staff involved in their care. Many told us they felt listened to by staff and well taken care of.
Comments from patients included: ‘Staff are so busy but they do their best to help me if I need something’ ‘I can see staff are really busy so I don’t like to trouble them but if I ask for anything they are always really helpful and smiling’ and ‘Everyone has been helpful, from the reception staff to the porters, everyone’.
However, we also spoke with some patients who told us they requested pain relief, but this was either not offered, or they had to wait a long time for it to come. One person we spoke with told us he had asked for a drink several times and always been promised it would come, but never received one. The patient described feeling forgotten about and burdensome. As a result, some people experienced avoidable discomfort while waiting for treatment or inspection.