England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated services provided by Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as Requires Improvement, following an inspection in November and December 2017
As a result of this inspection the trust was rated Requires Improvement for safety and responsiveness and Good for effectiveness, caring and well-led. When the trust was last inspected in January 2014, overall they were rated, Requires Improvement.
At this inspection the ratings for effectiveness and well-led had improved to Good. Overall, however, the trust remains Requires Improvement. Inspectors visited the main hospital, Blackpool Victoria Hospital and community services across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre and North Lancashire.
Inspectors looked at urgent and emergency care, community services for adults, children, young people and families and specialist community mental health services for children and young people. Overall, across the trust, there were challenges with patient flow - performance in urgent and emergency care had gone down. The emergency department consistently failed to meet the four-hour waiting time, from patient arrival to initial assessment, recommendation by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
When inspectors examined medical services, including older people’s services, they found it had improved overall, from Requires Improvement to Good. Although there were challenges with staffing levels, collaborative team working was good; doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals supported each other to provide good patient care.
Across the trust surgery had improved from Requires Improvement to Good. Inspectors found the trust now carried out timely and appropriate pre-operative assessments by a specialist. Improvements had been made in the fracture neck of femur pathway. Staffing on surgical wards and departments was sufficient to meet the needs of the patients. This was identified as an area for improvement at the last inspection.
Community services had not previously inspected and following the inspection is rated as Good. Community services for children, young, people and families, community dental and sexual health services were rated as Good. Inspectors rated community services for adults as Outstanding.
The inspection team saw some outstanding practices in the way staff treated patients with compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff were kind to patients and demonstrated they knew patients individually, particularly those who regularly used the services and involved them in decisions about their care.
Community services for children, young, people and families, community dental and sexual health services and specialist community mental health services for children and young people were rated as Good. Inspectors rated community services for adults as Outstanding.
Ellen Armistead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals, North, said:
“Since our last inspection at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in January 2014, the rating for trust has remained the same at Requires Improvement. There are some encouraging aspects to the inspection, but some disappointing shortcomings in others."
“The prioritisation of patients, ensuring they benefit from timely and effective patient flow is important. It is disappointing that the trust was consistently missing the time limit to meet the Royal College of Emergency Medicine recommendations. They need to be prioritising patients more effectively."
“There are areas where the trust has made good progress. Responsiveness within adult care services and community services for adults was very good, the service had managers with the right skills to run a service providing high-quality sustainable care, in addition the leadership team demonstrated an understanding of the challenges to quality and sustainability and had taken action to address these."
“Managers across the trust promoted a positive culture that supported and valued staff, creating a sense of common purpose based on shared values. .Most staff across the services reported they felt supported, respected and valued."
“The pace of change will need to be addressed and although the trust remains as Requires Improvement there is evidence from this inspection that Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust can improve further and sustain the improvements we have reported on.”
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