- NHS hospital
County Hospital
Report from 10 December 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings - Medical care (Including older people's care)
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 4th July 2024. University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust provides a general acute hospital services for 1.1 million people in Staffordshire, South Cheshire and Shropshire. The County hospital provides a full range of services including urgent and emergency care, medical care, surgery, end of life care, maternity, gynaecology, and outpatients’ services. We conducted this assessment as a follow-up focused inspection in response to a warning notice issued in 2021and 2022 whereby we notified the trust that the Care Quality Commission had formed the view that the quality of health care provided in relation to the risk management of patients with mental health needs medicine at County Hospital required significant improvement. At the 2021and 2022 inspection we found patients and staff were at risk of serious harm as there were no effective processes in place to assess, record and mitigate risks associated with people with acute mental health needs. We assessed 5 quality statements across safe, effective, and well-led key questions and have combined the scores for these areas with scores from the last inspection. At this assessment, we found there was a strong focus on safety and saw managers investigated concerns appropriately and risk assessments, processes around mental health were embedded. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and treatment and supported them to ask questions. The provider had clear and effective governance systems, which staff regularly reviewed.
People's experience of this service
People were positive about the quality of their care and treatment. There was an active patient participation group who represented the views of people using the service. Staff were open and honest with patients and carers and took any concerns they had seriously.