England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, has recommended that Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust should remain in special measures, following his first report on the quality of care provided by the trust.
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was placed into special measures by Sir Bruce Keogh in July last year after concerns were raised about mortality rates and standards of care. While CQC found that some improvements had been made since then, there has not yet been enough progress to recommend that the trust leave special measures at this time.
Under the new inspection model, CQC has given individual ratings to each of the core services at the hospitals, including accident and emergency, medical care (including older people’s care), surgery, critical care, maternity and family planning, services for children and young people, end of life care, and outpatients.
Both King’s Mill Hospital and Newark Hospital were rated as Requires Improvement overall, following CQC’s inspections on 24 and 25 April.
King’s Mill Hospital was rated as Good for critical care, maternity and family planning and children and young people’s services.
All other services inspected at both hospitals were rated as Requires Improvement and the overall rating for the trust as a whole is Requires Improvement.
Full reports for the trust and each of its hospitals can be found at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Inspectors found services across the trust were caring, and rated these as Good. Nursing staff were seen to be compassionate and patients said staff were caring, kind and respected their wishes.
Inspectors found some excellent practice in the maternity department, A&E, children and young people’s services and surgery at Newark Hospital.
Examples of this included multidisciplinary working in the maternity and children’s departments, junior doctors reporting that they felt well supported in A&E and an effectively managed surgery at Newark Hospital.
Additionally, the trust’s smoking reduction programme used for women during pregnancy produced good results. It was also noted that the gynaecology department was well led. Staff were passionate about the care and service they provided there.
Among inspectors’ concerns were that patient record keeping was poor, medical equipment was not being maintained or audited effectively and staff training and appraisals were not being completed in time.
In addition, senior staff were concerned that there were insufficient contingency plans in place during busy periods. Patient flow was increasing and there were not enough staff on hand to give the required support.
The trust has been told that it must make improvements to ensure that:
- Staff mandatory training and appraisals must be completed to meet trust targets.
- There are appropriate numbers of staff in place for the care required at Newark Hospital.
- Accurate record keeping is maintained with regard to people’s observations and hydration.
- There are secure systems in place for storing medicines and people are given medicines according to their prescription.
CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: “I recognise Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been working hard over the last year to make improvements. While we saw signs of improvement, the trust still has some way to go before it reaches the required standard.
“That is why I have recommended to Monitor that the trust remains in special measures for a further six months.
“I am hopeful that in six months time the trust will be able to demonstrate sufficient further improvement for me to review this again. So far, the trust has proven that they can progress in the right direction, so I hope this will continue.
Inspectors also visited the trust out of hours, unannounced 29 April and 9 May as part of the inspection, held focus groups with staff, and held public listening events. The report which CQC publishes today is based on a combination of their findings, information from CQC’s Intelligent Monitoring system, and information provided by patients, the public and other organisations.
CQC inspectors will return to the hospital in due course to check that the required improvements have been made.
ENDS
For media enquiries contact Helen Gildersleeve, regional communications officer on 0191 233 3379 or CQC’s press office on 0207 4489401. For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61
Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.