The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published reports on surgery services at two hospitals run by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, following unannounced inspections in January.
Surgery services at Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Poole Hospital were inspected due to concerns CQC had about the services.
Following the inspection, surgery services at Royal Bournemouth Hospital have been rated as requires improvement overall, and for being safe and well-led. Effective, caring and responsive have been rated as good.
CQC asked the trust for an action plan in response to the regulation breaches found during the inspection of surgery services at both sites. At Royal Bournemouth Hospital, regulation breaches related to providing safe care and treatment and governance. At Poole Hospital, there was one regulation breach around how the service was being managed.
Surgery services at Poole Hospital have been rated good overall, and for the areas of safe, effective, caring, and responsive. Well-led has been rated as requires improvement.
Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of operations in the south said:
“We found at our inspection of surgery services across both Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Poole Hospital, that staff and leaders were skilled, capable and passionate about providing the best possible care.
“Across both sites we found staff worked well together to deliver care that met people’s individual needs and was based on the latest guidance. Staff ensured people could make informed decisions about their care and people told us they were treated with kindness and warmth, even when the services were busy.
“We were pleased to find improvements at Poole Hospital since our last inspection, although we identified some issues with auditing which leaders intend to address.
“We also found some concerns with at Royal Bournemouth Hospital regarding how well leaders had identified and addressed safety risks. There were two breaches of the legal regulations relating to how the service provided safe care and treatment, and how it was being managed.
“We have told the trust to submit an action plan so we know exactly how they are going to address the issues we found.
“The trust is aware of where improvements are needed and has already started to address the concerns we found at our inspection. We will continue to monitor the progress of those improvements to keep people safe during this time.”
Inspectors found at Royal Bournemouth Hospital
- Leaders had embedded a positive, open culture where staff felt able to speak up about issues.
- Staff were responsive to people’s needs and people spoke positively about their experiences and how compassionate staff were.
- Staff understood their role in protecting people from the risk of abuse and safeguarding concerns were reported to external agencies as needed.
- The service actively encouraged healthier lifestyles to support people with managing medical needs such as heart conditions.
However
- Leaders had not properly addressed issues with the availability of emergency equipment. This included equipment to support people needing to be given oxygen, despite staff reporting incidents and near misses relating to this.
- Environmental risks had not aways been addressed. Some corridors were cluttered, which could impact how easily staff evacuated people from the wards in an emergency, and hazardous materials were not always stored securely.
- Staff did not always lock medicines away safely and some were out of date. The trust did not have a policy to guide staff in supporting people to administer their own medicines, which could reduce people’s independence when they were discharged home.
Inspectors found at Poole Hospital
- Leaders had fostered a good learning culture and investigated safety incidents thoroughly.
- The service had made improvements to safety issues found at the previous inspection, relating to the assessment of blood clot risks and how it stored people’s records.
- Staff understood their role in protecting people from the risk of abuse and reported safeguarding concerns appropriately.
- Leaders made sure staff had the right skills and training to meet people’s needs and there were mostly enough staff.
- The wards were generally tidy and free from clutter.
However
- Some people and their families said there had been delays when they needed staff assistance and there was mixed feedback on the food and drinks provided.
- Some critical medical equipment was overdue safety checks, and staff said a lack of sterile instrument packs meant they sometimes had to borrow equipment from Royal Bournemouth Hospital.
- Medicines audits were incomplete, and the trust did not have a policy to guide staff in supporting people to administer their own medicines, which could reduce people’s independence when they were discharged home.
The full inspection reports will be published on CQC’s website under each hospital page in the coming days: