Chief Inspector of Hospitals rates BMI Clementine Churchill Hospital as Requires Improvement

The Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated BMI Clementine Churchill Hospital as Requires Improvement following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The BMI Clementine Churchill Hospital, owned and managed by BMI Healthcare Limited, is an acute independent hospital that provides outpatient, day care and inpatient services including physiotherapy, medical imaging, surgical procedures and rapid access to assessment and investigation.

The CQC inspection team, which included specialist advisors and experts by experience, visited the hospital over a period of several days during July and August 2015. Inspectors rated the BMI Clementine Churchill Hospital as Requires Improvement for providing safe and effective services, and Good for providing caring, responsive and well-led services.

Full reports from the inspection have been published on this website.

Inspectors observed that infection prevention and control was poor within the intensive care unit and across medical care. There was poor compliance with standards for cleanliness, hand hygiene and the use of personal protective equipment, although this improved during the inspection.

Medicines were generally well managed, however audits did not include medicine stock checks, and there were some concerns regarding the clarity of medicine records. There were also some concerns with equipment checks, particularly within the intensive care unit, and the outpatient and surgical wards.

Although staff were able to demonstrate that robust investigations of incidents took place, there was not always full evidence to support this. However, the hospital performed well in relation to preventing patients coming to harm with a low rate of falls and pressure ulcers in particular.

The quality of medical records varied across the hospital, with poor completion of records identified within the medical and surgical wards and satisfactory maintenance of records within the emergency care centre, and intensive care unit.

The hospital responded to patient needs within appropriate timeframes, including referrals to treatment and waiting times within the emergency care centre.

Many patients told inspectors that they had positive experiences at the hospital, that staff were caring and maintained their privacy and dignity and that they were involved in decisions about their care.

The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said:

“During our previous inspection at the BMI Clementine Churchill hospital in January 2014, we identified a number of concerns regarding medicines management, staffing levels, infection control, and records management.

“Although we observed improvements in many areas during our most recent inspection, a number of issues still remained in particular regarding infection control and the maintenance of records and audits.

“We are concerned that infection prevention and control was poor within the intensive care unit and across medical care, presenting potential risks to vulnerable patients.

“Following this inspection we have told the hospital about a number of areas that require improvement, which I expect the hospital to address as a priority. We will continue to monitor the hospital’s performance and we will return in due course to check on their progress.”

Areas of poor practice identified where the hospital needs to make improvements, include:

• The provider must ensure that the intensive care unit environment and equipment are clean and that the hospital follows infection prevention and control guidance, in particular regarding hand hygiene and use of personal protective equipment.
• The provider must take action to ensure the phlebotomy administrative office and storage room is kept clean and fit for the purpose, to reduce risks of administrative errors and infection control.

Inspectors saw areas of outstanding practice, including:

• The hospital had a good system of raising issues and concerns across the hospital, through its ‘Comm Cells’ meetings and display boards. This meant that hospital staff could access up-to-date information about hospital performance and any concerns or changes in practice in a timely manner. This had been embedded throughout the hospital and staff spoke positively of how much communication had improved across the entire site.
• The emergency care centre had introduced a new way of supporting staff when they had completed difficult shifts. Staff were encouraged to write about and discuss what had happened, their feelings, what action they have taken and what difference they have made.

The hospital has submitted a report to the Care Quality Commission which details the action that will be taken in order to improve services to meet required standards.

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For further information please contact Yetunde Akintewe, CQC Regional Engagement Manager, on 07471 020 659. For media enquiries, journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.