The Care Quality Commission has rated Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust as Good overall. Previously it was rated as Requires Improvement.
The trust was rated Good for being effective, caring, responsive and well-led. It was rated Requires Improvement for being safe, following the inspection in May 2019.
CQC inspected the St Helier Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children and Epsom General Hospital. At St Helier Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children, CQC inspected the core services of urgent and emergency services, surgery and maternity. At Epsom General Hospital, CQC inspected urgent and emergency services, medical care and maternity. The inspection was part of CQC’s continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.
The overall findings indicated improvements and progress in most areas. Of the services inspected, most were rated as Good, apart from the emergency department on both main sites.
The emergency department at Epsom General Hospital remained as Requires Improvement. As did the emergency department at St Helier Hospital.
CQC inspectors did find examples of some Outstanding practice. The maternity service at the trust received the UNICEF Baby Friendly Achieving Sustainability Gold Award and were the first London NHS trust to achieve this. Baby Friendly is an international initiative to encourage breast feeding and the Gold award is designed to help services embed Baby Friendly care in their workplace for the long term.
In addition, the maternity service had introduced an innovative Pregnancy Advice Line, in partnership with South East Coast Ambulance Service. This had resulted in more timely access to services for women, ensuring they receive the right care at the right time.
CQC’s rating of how well-led the trust has improved to Good. The trust board had the appropriate range of skills, knowledge and experience to perform its role. Senior leaders were aware of the current priorities and challenges of the trust and knew of the various strategies and measures to address them.
The trust engaged with people who use services and their relatives/carers. CQC received positive comments from patients and their relatives, during the inspection, about their care and treatment.
However, inspectors noted that in many areas of the trust, the environment was not always appropriate for the services being delivered, due to the age and structure of the estate. The trust’s estate was on its corporate risk register.
Areas where the trust must now take action to improve services include:
- Ensuring there are suitable and safe environments for children and young people presenting with mental ill health to be assessed in the emergency department.
- Ensuring there are effective systems for identifying risks to children and young people in the emergency department at St Helier Hospital.
- Ensuring there is adequate staffing across surgical units at St Helier Hospital to provide safe delivery of care to patients.
- Ensuring there are proper governance arrangements for the management of medicines.
Areas where the trust should now take action to improve care include:
- Reviewing whether staff receive appropriate mandatory training to undertake their roles in a safe and effective way in emergency departments.
- Reviewing whether all staff adhere to best practice in hand hygiene, in medical care at Epsom General Hospital.
- Reviewing whether there is enough staff on all shifts to meet patients’ needs and ensure patient safety.
Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Dr Nigel Acheson, said: “I am very pleased that Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust has attained a Good rating overall. Management and staff have worked well to improve from the previous Requires Improvement attainment.
“I was particularly impressed with the standard of maternity care at the trust, which had received a prestigious award.
“The trust is going in the right direction with a management team committed to further improving care in the future.”
NHS Improvement’s Use of Resources rating for the trust was Good overall. Its rating combined with CQC’s Good quality rating amounts to a combined Good overall standard.
You can read the report in full when it is published on the CQC website at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RVR
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