England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has welcomed further improvements at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
A team of inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited Conquest Hospital and Eastbourne District General Hospital in March to check the quality of five core services: maternity, surgery, medicine, outpatients and emergency care. CQC also looked specifically at management and leadership to answer the key question: Is the trust well led?
Inspectors have found significant improvements, although there are still some areas where further improvements are required to ensure that patients receive consistently safe care.
The trust originally entered special measures because of concerns with the quality of its services in September 2015. Two inspections in September 2014 and March 2015 rated the trust as Inadequate overall. CQC inspected again in October 2016 and found improvements had taken place but inspectors were not confident the improvements were embedded and there was insufficient assurance they could be sustained.
The trust was also placed in financial special measures by NHS Improvement in January 2017 because of the large financial deficit.
Following the latest inspection in March 2018, the Chief Inspector for Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, has written to NHSI Improvement to note that the trust has made a marked improvement in the quality of its services and that from a quality of care perspective there is no reason for it to stay in special measures. Overall, the trust rating remains Requires Improvement.
The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said:
“I am very pleased to report that since our last inspection we have found good evidence that the trust is making steady progress. In our most recent inspection we were encouraged by the sustained improvements that have been made by the trust in the last 18 months.
“Nearly three years ago, we rated the trust as Inadequate overall because of concerns relating to patient safety, the organisational culture and governance throughout the trust. Since that time we have been keeping a close watch, with support from the local clinical commissioning groups and NHS Improvement.
“It is apparent that the trust is on a journey of improvement and progress has been made both clinically and in the trust’s governance structures, although, I acknowledge that the trust’s financial arrangements are still under review from NHS Improvement.
“There are a number of areas that still require attention and we will return to check this.”
Full reports, including the latest ratings, are available on our website.
Inspectors found the board committed to the well-being of patients within their trust. The executive directors presented a unified and collaborative team who were both supported but also challenged by the non-executive directors. The relationship between the chair and chief executive was strong with the two providing robust, visible and respected leadership across the trust.
The trust had a clear strategy with distinct objectives that gave a well understood sense of direction to the staff. The strategy acknowledged the financial challenges faced by the trust but remained firmly grounded in improvements for patient care and their outcomes as the driving force with a resultant reduction in costs.
The trust had worked hard to improve several historic areas of poor performance. In emergency care, the trust was on the way to meet the requirement for 95pc of patients to be seen within four hours of attendance at the accident and emergency departments. In this respect it is one of the most improved trusts in England..
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I am very pleased to report that since our last inspection we have found good evidence that the trust is making steady progress
Professor Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals