The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told George Eliot NHS Trust that services provided by the emergency department at George Eliot Hospital in Warwickshire must improve further.
CQC carried out a focused inspection in the emergency department at the hospital on 2 December 2019, as part of a programme to assess safety during the winter period. CQC inspectors rated Urgent and Emergency Services as Requires Improvement overall.
The department had a high vacancy rate and was heavily reliant on temporary doctors. There had been little improvement in medical staffing since CQC’s last inspection.
The trust must ensure there are always sufficient numbers of staff with the right skills deployed to ensure the department remains safe.
The executive team were acutely aware of the challenges of sustaining and delivering an emergency care service at George Eliot Hospital which was impeded by the challenges of recruiting enough numbers of experienced doctors.
There had been limited progress in governance processes, partly because of the limited capacity within the medical workforce.
Whilst there was a system in place to support the improvement of quality of services, further work was required to ensure action plans were implemented.
Heidi Smoult, CQC's Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals for the Central region, said:
“When we visited the George Eliot Hospital emergency department we saw several areas where improvements must be made.
“Following the inspection, we issued the trust with a warning notice and the trust has sent us updates telling us what action they have already taken and what further actions they are taking to meet these requirements.
“Patient flow must be coordinated across the whole emergency care pathway to ensure patients receive care and treatment in a timely way.
“The trust’s work to reduce pressures on the emergency department are welcome but they must ensure improvements are sustained. We will continue to monitor the trust closely and will return to inspect in due course.”
Full details of the ratings, including a ratings grid, are given in the report.
The trust’s work to reduce pressures on the emergency department are welcome but they must ensure improvements are sustained.
Heidi Smoult, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals