The Care Quality Commission has carried out a focused inspection of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s urgent and emergency services at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
CQC inspectors visited Blackpool Victoria Hospital unannounced on 7 January 2019, looking specifically at the urgent and emergency services, as part of the winter inspection programme. The department was previously inspected in November 2017 as part of a trust wide inspection and rated Requires Improvement, with safe being rated as Inadequate.
The latest inspection report is unrated, and the trust’s overall rating of Requires Improvement is unchanged.
Ellen Armistead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“Many of our previous inspection findings, from November 2017, remain a concern for us and should be a high priority for the trust. Significant delays across the service and additional pressures slowing down the flow of patients through it meant some patients were not provided treatment in a timely manner.
“We appreciate that the service experienced substantial challenges and staff were strong in facing them, some staying long past the end of their shifts to support the service and patients, but some of the practice we witnessed simply cannot continue.
“The trust was working hard to develop and implement changes to address some of our findings and we will be returning to inspect again soon.”
It was clear the service was experiencing severe pressure, but inspectors did witness some outstanding practice. Staff showed remarkable resilience when faced with challenging patient attitudes. The trust had implemented a service for patients phoning with urgent mental health needs, the service helped reduce unnecessary attendances to the hospital.
Most staff were kind and compassionate and were working to care for patients as effectively as possible. Doctors said there was a culture of teaching and support which enabled them to implement an update service for staff, which provided details on some specific conditions. The leadership within the service were supportive and staff commented positively about their willingness to help. Inspectors saw how the trust was working to improve engagement, working conditions and morale.
However, inspectors reported that due to the layout and poor flow through the service it became overcrowded quickly. This caused significant delays in patients being treated, some were being cared for in corridors. Patients in the corridors had no effective way of maintaining their dignity when being treated or summoning support should their condition change. Some patients were sat on the floor of the waiting area inspectors noted that few staff monitored the area meaning patients whose health could deteriorate were not monitored well.
Inspectors were concerned that patients being admitted to the emergency department were not assessed fully, prior to admission, because the outsourced reception team was not supported by a nurse or other healthcare professional. Inspectors said the trust did not have a strong oversight of the mental health provision and performance in the department. A lack of mental health resources was acknowledged by staff.
Read the full inspection report.
ENDS
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager David Fryer david.fryer@cqc.org.uk or Regional Engagement Officer Mark Humphreys mark.humphreys@cqc.org.uk 0191 201 1675 or 07401 853206
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We appreciate that the service experienced substantial challenges and staff were strong in facing them, some staying long past the end of their shifts to support the service and patients, but some of the practice we witnessed simply cannot continue.
Ellen Armistead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals