England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated the services provided by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as Good, following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
A team of inspectors from CQC visited Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General Hospital in October and November 2018 to check the quality of four core services: urgent and emergency services, medical care, surgery and outpatients. CQC also looked specifically at management and leadership to answer the key question: Is the trust well-led?
The trust is now rated Good for being safe, effective, caring, and well-led, and remains Requires Improvement for responsiveness to people’s needs. Overall the trust rating has improved to Good.
CQC has also published the trust’s Use of Resources report, which is based on an assessment undertaken by NHS Improvement. The trust has been rated as Requires Improvement for using its resources productively.
You can read the latest reports in full here: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RTE, once the report has been published on the CQC website.
Dr Nigel Acheson, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“Since their first comprehensive inspection in March 2015, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has implemented and thoroughly embedded improvements and I am pleased to congratulate the trust in reaching an overall rating of good.
“Patients we met on inspection were entirely positive about their care. We found staff to be dedicated, kind, caring and patient focused. We found clear evidence of leaders who were visible and committed to continual improvement and instilling a shared vision of high quality care.
“Staff at all levels of the organisation were actively involved in quality improvement; we found evidence of positive changes in practice as a result of their improvement initiatives. We hope that the trust will support their staff to continue to embed those improvements. We will return in due course to check their progress.”
Within urgent and emergency care, inspectors found that overall the four-hour target was consistently met. There had been a vast improvement since the last inspection. Both hospitals treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated, learned lessons, and shared the results with all staff. A specialist team engaged with patients with learning disabilities to ensure their individual needs were understood and met during emergency attendances.
Medical care (including older people’s care) had improved significantly, staffing levels had
improved and the service was seen to be managing incidents well.
In surgery the trust had reviewed their safety culture and this was demonstrated by the trust’s commitment to learning and improvement. However, there were signs of wear and tear and some wards and theatres were cluttered. Staffing on the wards was regularly down to minimum levels.
In the outpatients department patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect. Staff provided emotional support to patients to minimise their distress and inspectors observed patients having treatments explained and discussed with them, and the options that were available.
Overall the inspection found that the trust’s leadership team had the experience, capability and integrity to manage a well-led organisation. Leaders at all levels were visible and approachable for their patients and staff. There was an emphasis in the trust on the safety and wellbeing of staff, and benefits available to provide staff with the opportunity to maintain and improve their own health.
Ends
For further information, please contact John Scott, Regional Engagement Manager on 077898 75809. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here: www.cqc.org.uk/media/regional. Please note: the press office is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters.
For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61.