The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report a following a focused inspection of the emergency department at the County Hospital, part of Wye Valley NHS Trust.
The inspection was carried out on 15 December in response to concerns about the safety and quality of the emergency department, particularly around staffing levels and patient waiting times to assessment and treatment.
However, inspectors found good care was being provided to people using services, but some improvements were needed around waiting and discharge times.
Following the inspection, the overall rating for urgent and emergency services at the County Hospital remains as Good overall. The trust’s overall rating of Requires Improvement remains.
CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said:
“When inspectors visited the emergency department at Wye Valley NHS Trust, they were pleased to see that the level of care had remained consistent despite the added pressures caused by the pandemic.
“Inspectors were impressed by the strong leadership of the department. Staff respected their leaders, and this was reciprocated with senior staff acting in a way to get the best out of people. Many staff spoke with evident pride about the department and went out of their way to tell us that they were happy and proud to work there.
“The trust recognised medical staffing and recruitment as concerns and were in the process of carrying out a recruitment campaign. The training and development model had been restructured to make the department more attractive to recruits.
“There are, however, areas where improvements must be made and maintained. For example, waiting times from referral to treatment and discharge were not in line with national standards.
“Performance for the four-hour target averaged 68% over the previous two weeks to our inspection.
“We have reported our findings to the trust leadership, which knows what it must do to bring about further improvements and ensure it maintains any already made.
“CQC’s immediate focus will be on supporting the trust to keep people safe during the Covid-19 pandemic, working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure additional support is in place where needed.”
During the inspection, CQC found::
- The service had enough medical staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep patients safe and to provide the right care and treatment.
- Managers regularly reviewed and adjusted staffing levels and ensured locum staff received a full induction.
- Agency staff usually represented about 20% of the staff on shift at the department. High levels of agency staff are usually considered to be a risk, but this was mitigated because they were a stable and consistent group who worked regular shifts.
- Leaders understood and managed the priorities and issues the service faced. They were visible and approachable to both patients and staff.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published online here.
Ends
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