The Care Quality Commission carried out a focused inspection of University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust’s urgent and emergency services at Derriford Hospital.
CQC inspectors visited the hospital unannounced on 15 April 2019, looking specifically at the urgent and emergency services, as part of the winter inspection programme. The department was previously inspected in April 2018 as part of a trust wide inspection and rated Requires Improvement.
The latest inspection report is unrated, and the trust’s overall rating of Requires Improvement is unchanged.
Mary Cridge, CQC's Head of Hospital Inspection for the South West, said:
“We saw some positive practice: patients’ needs were being assessed well and there was a good culture throughout the service. Leaders of the service were motivated and committed to improve patient care and positive steps had been taken to protect children.
“However, we have some concerns regarding poor patient flow through the hospital and triage processes taking too long. Work was being done to address these issues and CQC will continue to monitor the trust closely.”
Inspectors found leaders had a shared vision to improve patient flow through the service and improve patient safety by reducing crowding. There was work being done to help reduce the delays in discharging patients in other wards with support from senior trust leadership. Nurse vacancies were low, and there was no reliance on agency nurses. Due to a recent refurbishment, children were separated from adult emergency department.
However, some patients had to wait on trolleys in open areas of the service. Staff did speak to patients explaining why they were waiting in this manner. During a busy time, the trolleys made it difficult for nurses to properly assess and monitor patients. Inspectors reported concerns with the triaging process with some patients not being assessed quickly enough.
A full report of the inspection will be available on the CQC website at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/RK950
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