England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals has recommended that United Hospitals Lincolnshire NHS Trust should remain in special measures following a Care Quality Commission inspection.
Inspectors visited Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospital and County Hospital between 11 June and 18 July 2019 and found a number of improvements were needed.
As a result, the trust’s overall rating remains as Requires Improvement.
Meanwhile, the trust’s ratings for whether its services are safe, effective, responsive and well-led also remain unchanged from our inspection in February 2018. It is rated Requires Improvement for whether its services are safe, effective, responsive and well-led and Good for whether its services are caring.
The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said:
“United Hospitals Lincolnshire NHS Trust must make further sustainable improvements to ensure that people receive the care they should be able to expect. During our inspection we found staff were caring and committed to helping patients, but we were disappointed to find that insufficient improvement had been made and that, in some instances, improvements witnessed as part of our inspection in 2018 had not been maintained.
“This is why I am recommending that it remains in special measures and continues to receive support to improve.
“Urgent and emergency care at both Pilgrim Hospital’s urgent and emergency care was of significant concern. The rating for whether services were safe at Pilgrim Hospital is now Inadequate, where previously it was Requires Improvement, and the ratings in urgent and emergency care at Lincoln County Hospital have also declined, with the department being rated Inadequate overall.
“Children and young people’s services at Pilgrim Hospital remained Inadequate and that is worrying.
“As a result of our findings we imposed conditions on the trust’s registration with regard to the emergency departments at both Lincoln County and Pilgrim Hospital and issued a warning with regard to its children and young people’s services.
“As part of this inspection CQC and NHS Improvement looked at the trust’s use of resources, this includes its finances, and it was clear that the trust has a number of challenges and it continues to operate with a significant deficit. It is up to the board to ensure it manages its use of resources
“Despite there being a number of areas for improvement, we also found a number of examples of outstanding practice. Most notably, these were in medical care (including older peoples care), critical care and in maternity at both Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital.
“However, this is a trust that must improve and the trust leadership must take a strong stance to drive through change that will have a long-term positive impact on patient care. We will continue to monitor the trust closely and return to carry out further inspections”
CQC has told the trust to make a number of improvements including:
- The trust must ensure the executive leadership team has the capacity and capability to deliver current priorities and challenges.
- The trust must ensure staff understand how their role contributes to achieving its strategy and that there is timely progress against its delivery.
- The trust must ensure action is taken to ensure staff feel respected, supported and valued and are always focused on the needs of patients receiving care.
- The trust must work at pace to ensure sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced medical and nursing staff across all services.
- The trust must ensure systems to manage performance are embedded across the organisation.
- The trust must ensure leaders and teams, across all services, always identify and escalate relevant risks and issues and identify actions to reduce their impact.
- The trust must ensure all staff are committed to continually learning and improving services.
- The trust must ensure all patients who attend the urgent and emergency care department at Lincoln County Hospital are admitted, transferred and discharged from the department within four hours.
- The trust must ensure that processes are being followed related to proper and safe management of medicines at Lincoln County Hospital.
- The trust must ensure there are suitable arrangements in place to support people who are in a transition phase between services and/or other providers.
- The trust must ensure information detailing the signs or symptoms they needed to look out for that would prompt a return to hospital or seeking further advice is readily available for patients to take away from the urgent and emergency department at Pilgrim Hospital.
- The trust must ensure patients receiving medical care at Pilgrim Hospital are treated with dignity and respect.
Full details of the ratings, including a ratings grid, are given in the report published online at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RWD
Ends
For media enquiries call regional engagement manager, Louise Grifferty, on 07717 422917.
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/our-media-office (Please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters).
For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.