CQC rating for medical care at Royal Lancaster Infirmary drops from good to inadequate

Published: 27 October 2021 Page last updated: 28 October 2021
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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report following an inspection of medical care services at Royal Lancaster Infirmary, run by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

This unannounced inspection was carried out in August after CQC received concerns about risks to patients.

Following this inspection, the overall rating for medical care services at Royal Lancaster Infirmary is rated inadequate. It is also inadequate for being responsive to people’s needs and for how well-led the service is. It is rated requires improvement for being safe, effective and caring. At the previous inspection in December 2018 the service was rated as good.

This inspection did not change the overall rating for Royal Lancaster Infirmary which remains as requires improvement.

Karen Knapton, CQC’s head of hospital inspection, said:

“When we looked at medical care services at Royal Lancaster Infirmary, we saw poor leadership that was impacting on patient care and the experience of staff working there.

“We found there wasn’t always enough nursing and medical staff to keep people safe.

“We saw that staff didn’t always treat patients with compassion or respect their privacy and dignity. We observed varying quality of interactions with patients. In some areas, patients were not always supported to maintain their independence with aspects of daily living, such as getting dressed.

“There was a poor culture on some wards. Staff told us that although ward managers and matrons were visible and supportive, senior managers weren’t. Staff didn’t feel the managers were always approachable, or that enough actions were being taken to mitigate risks to patients.

“During this inspection, inspectors saw an environment that wasn’t suitable for people’s needs. There was damaged flooring, crumbling walls and broken furnishings. There was a lack of dedicated facilities to support older people’s recovery and rehabilitation from illness or injury.

“Since our inspection, action has been taken to move patients into more suitable environments, with plans in place for further service improvements. We were also pleased to see that progress was being made in improving stroke services following our previous inspection.

“We have told the trust leadership team it must have improved and more robust oversight to keep people safe.

“We will continue to monitor the trust closely and return to check on their progress.”

CQC inspectors found:

  • Leaders did not run the service well. Staff did not always feel respected, supported and valued. Staff were not always clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service did not engage well with patients and the community to plan and manage services
  • The service did not have enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills but did not know how to protect patients from abuse and did not manage safety well. Since the inspection, the trust started putting measures in place and was working with external health and social care organisations to minimise any future risks to patients
  • The service did not control infection risk well. The service did not complete records accurately and staff did not always assess the risks to patients
  • The service did not follow national guidelines and did not always have key services available seven days a week
  • Staff did not always treat patients with compassion and kindness, or respect their privacy and dignity
  • The service did not plan care to meet the needs of local people, it did not always take account of patients’ individual needs.

However:

  • The staff managed medicines well
  • The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service
  • Staff gave patients enough to eat and drink. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information
  • Staff took account of the emotional needs of patients and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
  • Following our previous inspection, the trust was making improvements to the stroke pathway for patients
  • The service made it easy for people to give feedback
  • Staff used reliable information systems. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work.

Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on our website.

For enquiries about this press release please email regional.engagement@cqc.org.uk.

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About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.