The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found improvements in the care being provided in services run by George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust following inspections last year. These latest inspections see individual service improvements as well as the overall rating for the George Eliot NHS Hospital improve from requires improvement to good.
Unannounced inspections were carried out in medical care, outpatients services, diagnostic imaging, and critical care as part of CQC’s continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.
Following the inspection, the services were rated:
- Medical care – this has improved from requires improvement to good overall, as well as for being safe, effective and well-led. Caring has been re-rated as good and responsive has been re-rated as requires improvement.
- Outpatients services – this has also improved from requires improvement to good overall and for being safe, responsive and well-led. Caring was re-rated as good, and effective was rated as good.
- Diagnostic imaging – this has been re-rated as good overall, as well as for being caring, responsive and well led. Safe has improved from requires improvement to good. Effective has been rated as good.
- Critical care – this has been rated as good overall and for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
The trust rating has not changed following this inspection and remains rated as requires improvement overall.
Charlotte Rudge, CQC deputy director of operations for the midlands, said:
“When we inspected services at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, we were pleased to find the trust had made improvements since our previous inspections, and people were receiving a higher standard of care, especially due to the work that the trust had done around culture.
“For example, there was a new management team in the outpatients department and staff now felt that they were working in a learning, rather than a blame culture. This encouraged them to report and learn from incidents to help prevent them from happening again, so that people received a high standard of safe care.
“Additionally, people could now generally access outpatients services at a time which suited them, although there were occasions when people had experienced short notice cancellations.
“Across all the services we visited, we found staff treated people with kindness and made them feel at ease. People couldn’t fault the care being provided to them. Even during difficult conversations, people couldn’t praise staff enough for the emotional support provided to them and their families. Staff should be really proud of this.
“We will continue to monitor the trust, including through future inspections, to ensure it builds on the improvements it has already made, and further changes are made and embedded.”
Inspectors found:
In medical care:
- Equipment was well maintained and regularly serviced to ensure people were kept safe
- People were cared for in a safe environment
- Staff identified and quickly acted upon people at risk of deterioration
- The service was inclusive and took account of people’s individual needs and preferences.
Outpatients services:
- People were given enough information to help them make informed decisions and were made to feel involved in their care and treatment
- Leaders ensured there were enough skilled staff to provide care and treatment for people in a safe environment
- People and the communities the trust served was at the centre of how care was planned and delivered
- People had access to the care and treatment they required and accessed it in ways which met their personal circumstances.
Diagnostic imaging:
- People had been given information about the side effects of radiation and had been provided with personal protective equipment to keep them safe
- People could choose which hospital they attended for imaging appointments. This meant people could sometimes get their treatment sooner in a hospital other than the one most local to them
- People were asked about their communication and mobility needs so staff could provide any necessary support
- Most people did not have to wait too long for their scan.
Critical care:
- The service had enough skilled staff to care for people and keep them safe.
- Staff understood how to protect people from abuse, and managed safety well
- Staff assessed risks to people, acted on them and kept good care records
- Support for people with physical and learning disabilities was available if needed.