England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated the services provided by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as Outstanding, following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
A team of inspectors visited the trusts two main hospital sites, Whiston and St Helens, between 17 July and 23 August 2018. They also looked specifically at management and leadership to answer the key question: Is the trust well led?
Overall the trust has been rated Outstanding. They have been rated Good for being safe, effective and responsive and Outstanding for caring and well-led.
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The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said:
“At their last comprehensive inspection in August 2015, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was rated as Good. I am pleased to note that improvements in a number of areas, have improved the rating to Outstanding.
“In the well-led category, across the trust, the rating increased from Good to Outstanding. There was a clear statement of vision and values driven by quality and safety, additionally risk management processes were comprehensive and identified, and we could see they addressed risks which were escalated appropriately.
“The improvement reflected in this latest report is an excellent achievement. The Trust has retained the outstanding ratings for the Whiston and St Helens Hospital outpatient services, which were rated in 2015. There has been significant progress within the maternity services and some upward movement within the ratings and I congratulate the trust on achieving their Outstanding rating.”
Inspectors identified some excellent areas of practice, including:
- In surgery at Whiston Hospital within the regional burns unit we observed exceptional work in the regional burns unit, they treated a patient with the largest percentage of burns to survive in the United Kingdom (UK).
- In maternity there were eight new-born and infant physical examination trained midwives across the hospital and community team. There was a ‘helicopter bleep’ holder who was a manager with oversight of the service and who could support staff where needed during weekdays.
- In community services for adults the sexual health services were the only sexual health service in the North West to have a dedicated health improvement team. Trained sexual health improvement practitioners worked proactively with the local community in public houses, clubs and gyms to identify and treat people at risk of sexually transmitted infections.
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