Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust rated Good after a CQC inspection
England’s chief inspector of hospitals has rated patient services at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust as Good following its latest unannounced inspection.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trustwas previously inspected in April 2017, following the latest inspection in February this year it has maintained its overall rating of Good. It was rated Outstanding for being caring, Good for effective, responsive and well-led services, and Requires Improvement for being safe.
At this inspection CQC inspected five core services;Critical care, Community children’s services, End of life services, Outpatients services and Diagnostic imaging. Diagnostic imaging improved to Good and the inspection of community services for children, young people and families was inspected for first time and was rated Good overall.
Inspectors identified a number of outstanding areas of practice. The hospital has an orthopaedic imaging system which is an innovative ultra-low dose x-ray imaging system that scans a patient while they are standing upright. This benefits children who need to be imaged frequently.
The dental clinic demonstrated a number of innovations which included the wide-awake club for children with autism to receive care at quieter times. The hospital also arranged acclimatisation sessions for patients with learning disabilities. The clinic included a nurse who was a learning disability champion, and staff had received training in interacting with children with individual needs.
The trust’s innovative programme includes the production of 3D models of parts of the anatomy following scans of children. This allows medical staff to have a clearer outline of the children’s condition before any procedures are undertaken.
However, there are areas where the trust must improve:
- Within outpatient services the trust needs to make surethat there are effective processes in place for ensuring patient records remain secure in all areas of the department. It is important that these records are up to date.
- The trust must ensure that staff have a thorough knowledge and awareness of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, including the implications for ensuring valid consent is obtained from patients aged under 16 years of age.
- There must be effective systems to make sure that the requirements of the duty of candour are met fully when a notifiable incident has occurred
You can see the latest ratings grids on pages 16, 17 and 18 of the inspection report.
Professor Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“During our inspection we found that children were at the centre of the service at Alder Hey and we saw examples of the highest quality of care. The parents we met told us their children were treated with dignity and respect and had all their needs met by kind and caring staff who are truly outstanding.
“We were told that the level of information given to parents was often excellent. It is a credit to the staff that they managed to communicate complex information to families in a way they could understand and took their time to ensure they understood what was being said.
“Alder Hey has excellent clinical outcomes for children in some services. CQC has seen some outstanding care but the trust should focus on the areas for improvement that we have identified.
“We will continue to monitor the service and return at some time in the future to check on progress.”
Ends
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CQC has seen some outstanding care but the trust should focus on the areas for improvement that we have identified
Professor Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals