England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals has recommended that Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust exits special measures following a Care Quality Commission inspection.
Professor Ted Baker said inspectors found enough progress to make the recommendation to NHS Improvement to remove the trust from special measures.
Between 10 December 2019 and 15 January 2020, a team of CQC inspectors visited core services at the trust including; urgent and emergency care, surgery, end of life care and outpatients.
Inspectors rated trust as Good for being caring and effective and Requires Improvement for being safe, responsive, and well-led. The trust’s overall rating remains as Requires Improvement.
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 issued a Use of Resources rating of Requires Improvement.
Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said:
“On our return to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we found improvements had been made in several areas which is why I have made the recommendation to NHS Improvement to remove the trust from special measures once a system-wide support package from NHS England/Improvement is agreed and in place.
“Inspectors were impressed by improvements made in end of life care services which is now rated as Outstanding and outpatients which is now rated as Good. The trust’s overall rating for being effective also went up from Requires Improvement to Good.
“We saw excellent multidisciplinary working in most areas we inspected. Patient care was the clear focus of staff discussions and leadership across services was much stronger with teams being clearly sighted on their challenges and risks.
“There are, however, areas where improvements must be made and maintained.
“For example, whilst there had been improvements in culture within the organisation, this remained a work in progress. We found pockets of poor culture persisted across some services and staff felt under pressure and were not always able to offer the care which they would like to.
“We have reported our findings to the trust leadership, which knows what it must do to bring about further improvements and ensure it maintains any already made.
“CQC’s immediate focus will be on supporting the trust to keep people safe during the Covid-19 pandemic, working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure additional support is in place where needed.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, CQC’s immediate focus will be on supporting providers to keep people safe during a period of unprecedented pressure. We will continue to collect insight and intelligence about the quality of care from our existing data sources, providers, healthcare staff, stakeholders, and the public, and will work closely with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure additional support is in place where needed.
CQC will be listening to what people are saying about services during this time to help us detect any changes in care. Although we are not conducting routine inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic, if we have evidence that people are at immediate risk of harm, we can and will take action to ensure that people are being kept safe. People can give feedback to CQC via the details below.
People can give feedback to CQC via:
- Telephone - 03000 616161
- Give feedback via our website- www.cqc.org.uk/give-feedback-on-care
On our return to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we found improvements had been made in several areas
Professor Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals