The Care Quality Commission has rated The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust as Good overall for the quality of its services, following an inspection in December 2018 and January 2019.
Inspectors rated services as Good for being effective, safe and responsive to people’s needs and as Outstanding for being caring. The trust was rated as Requires Improvement for being well-led.
The full report can be found at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/REN
Professor Ted Baker, CQC Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“The overall rating at Clatterbridge has fallen from Outstanding to Good. This is largely due to the trust losing its Outstanding rating for well-led which inspectors found required improvement.
“We still found that services largely performed well, but it was disappointing to see that effective systems and processes underpinning effective cancer care were not fully in place. We had concerns that directors’ files did not have all the information contained within them to meet every aspect of the fit and proper legal requirements; concerns regarding governance systems and processes; and having sufficient numbers of staff that were life support trained. However, I would stress, we were not concerned regarding the overall quality or safety of cancer care.
“I was encouraged to see that since our last inspection (June 2016) the trust had commissioned an independent review of safeguarding. The trust had an action plan in place. At this inspection we found that staff understood how to protect patients from abuse and the service worked well with other agencies to do so. The trust continued to control infection risk well. These things improved the trust overall safety rating from Requires Improvement to Good.
“There are still many areas where the trust performs well as one of the UK’s cancer centres providing highly specialist cancer care. There was a strong, visible patient centred culture, staff were highly motivated and inspired to offer care that was kind and promoted patients’ dignity.
"We have reported our findings to the trust and will continue to monitor the trust and we will return to carry out further inspections to check on any progress with improvements.”
Clatterbridge Cancer Care Centre provides excellent care Staff provide emotional support to patients to minimise their distress. Patients told inspectors they felt supported, safe and ‘received world class care’. Some of the outstanding practice that the report identifies, include:
The trust has the only centre in the UK for Eye proton therapy offering national and international care as well as advising other Cancer Centres as they establish their high energy services. Additionally, the trust is a global digital exemplar. This means it has been internationally recognised as an NHS provider delivering improvements in the quality of care, through the world-class use of digital technologies and information.
“Relatives and patients spoke about staff who were prepared “to go the extra mile”, a phrase inspectors often see where services are performing well. Within the Outpatients Department this was clearly demonstrated. Patients were given a card for a hotline that they could phone at any time for advice or if they felt unwell or their condition had changed. The hotline was staffed by advanced nurse practitioners 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They could advise patients if they needed to seek urgent medical attention and offer support.
A trust therapeutic radiographer had been named by the Society of Radiographers as North West Radiographer of the year. This was in recognition of his extensive work championing improvements to the health care experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients.
The trust has been told it must make several improvements, including:
The trust must ensure that people who have director level responsibility for the quality and safety of care, and for meeting the fundamental standards are fit and proper to carry out this important role.
In addition, the trust must ensure that their systems and processes ensure that implementation of the new strategy can be appropriately monitored.
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager David Fryer by email david.fryer@cqc.org.uk by phone on 07754 438750 or Mark Humphreys, mark.humphreys@cqc.org.uk and 0191 201 1675
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