England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals has found the quality of care provided by The Christie NHS Foundation Trust to be Outstanding after an inspection by the CQC.
The trust is a comprehensive cancer centre which serves a population of 3.2 million people across Greater Manchester and Cheshire as well as patients referred from across the UK.
CQC inspectors visited the Trust as part of an announced inspection in May earlier this year. The trust has been rated as Outstanding for being effective, caring, responsive and well-led, and Good for being safe.
The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said:
“We found the care at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust to be of exceptional quality. As the largest single site cancer centre in Europe, they treat more than 44,000 patients per year. I have no doubt they take great pride in the service they are providing.
“Staff are highly motivated and speak positively about the care they provide, and what they told us is a reflection of the friendly and open culture at the trust.
“The trust is also helping to shape the future of cancer care. Nationally it is well known for the contribution made by patients and staff to some very important clinical research projects. It is also impressive that the trust has established The Christie School of Oncology to provide specialist education for students and health professionals.
“Our inspectors were struck by the commitment to excellence that filters through every area of the trust. This includes investing in the latest technology and using clinical research to develop new treatments to secure the best outcomes for patients, to offering complementary therapies to aid the well-being of them and people close to them.
“This is a clear example of a trust leading in its field, and I commend all the staff on their outstanding rating.”
The full report, including ratings, is available at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RBV.
There were many factors that contributed to the outstanding rating including:
- The surgical division demonstrated a robust approach to treatment in association with multidisciplinary cancer teams. They offered bespoke multi-speciality treatments to patients, which improved survival rates, outcomes and quality of life.
- The trust had an outstanding programme of alternative and complementary therapies on offer to help patients with their holistic health and wellbeing which surgical patients and people close them could access.
- The structure of the trust’s end of life care team was recognised by NHS England and is now being rolled out across cancer centres throughout the country.
- The opt-in physiotherapy lymphedema service at Salford for patients who had breast cancer addresses the needs of patients who were unaware if they might develop lymphedema following treatment.
The reports which CQC publishes today are based on a combination of its inspection findings, information from CQC’s Intelligent Monitoring system, and information provided by patients, the public and other organisations.
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