- NHS hospital
Royal Stoke University Hospital
Report from 12 December 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings - Urgent and emergency services
Our view of the service
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust provides a general acute hospital services for over 1.1 million people in Staffordshire, South Cheshire and Shropshire. The trust provides a full range of hospital services. The trust also provides specialised services for three million people across a wider area, including neighbouring Counties and North Wales. The Emergency Department (ED) at the Royal Stoke University Hospital is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The trust is a major trauma centre and receives patients by helicopter as well as land ambulance. There is also an urgent care centre located adjacent to the main waiting area but does not provide a 24 hours service. We carried out an unannounced visit on 14th March with a follow up announced visit on 26th March of the Emergency Department only under the winter pressure inspection programme. We spoke with various members of staff, patients, relative and carers. We reviewed 10 sets of patient records. We rated the service as Requires Improvement because: There were significant handover delays for patients arriving by ambulance and for those who self-presented to the emergency department. Not all patients were seen in a timely way Not all risk assessments were completed
People's experience of this service
The effect for the Emergency Department (ED) was increasing corridor care for patients, which we know from all the staff, patients and relatives we spoke with was entirely unwanted and of a constant worry. The pressure on the limited number of staff trying to care for the patients while endlessly running around to deal with their needs was extremely challenging. We believe actions to relieve this pressure and make the area safer was crucial. We saw many examples of patients having long delays on the back of ambulance vehicles and in ED, many on trolleys and on the corridor.