The Care Quality Commission has published a report on services provided at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, south-east London.
The Quality Report follows an October 2016 focused inspection, carried out to review the progress made by the trust following a comprehensive inspection in April 2015. CQC asked the trust to make improvements in a number of areas.
CQC did not change the rating of the trust following this focused inspection - which remains at Requires Improvement.
There were areas of improvement across the majority of the concerns raised during the previous inspection.
When inspectors visited in October 2016 they found:
At King’s College Hospital:
The hospital had rectified the storage of IV and renal dialysis fluids on Fisk Ward.
Maintenance had resolved problems with flooding in both renal and endoscopy areas.
Outpatients services for patients with liver disease had been moved to a new area and had appropriate space for patients and their families.
Staff had completed a significant amount of work on improving the use of the World Health Organisation “Five steps to safer surgery” checklist.
Maternity services had improved the flow of patients through the department.
A new critical care unit was under construction, and was due for completion in March 2019. Infection prevention and control was a key priority in the Critical Care Units.
Audits were completed on hand hygiene, infection numbers and cleanliness.
At Princess Royal University Hospital:
The provision of patient records availability in outpatients had improved greatly.
There has been improvement to staffing levels and consultant cover now reaching 16 hours per day in the Emergency Department.
CQC inspectors reviewed the work which had been undertaken to improve over booking in the outpatients department. Sizes of clinics had been reduced, over booking of clinics had stopped. Patients were being kept informed of waiting times.
However, there were also areas of poor practice where the trust still needs to make improvements.
At King’s College Hospital - the trust must:
- Improve safeguarding training completion rates.
- Ensure the documentation of the use of mechanical restraints mitten in CCU is recorded in patient care records.
At Princess Royal University Hospital the trust must:
- Work with key stakeholders to improve patient flow throughout the hospital to reduce waiting times in the Emergency Department, cancellation of operations and delayed discharges.
- Review and improve record documentation to ensure it is fully completed and in line with national guidance including do not attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation orders.
CQC did not visit the Orpington Hospital site but we spoke with staff and reviewed information provided by the trust.
The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said:
“It is good to see that King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been working to make the improvements we recommended at our last comprehensive inspection."
“I hope that this work and further steps in the right direction in future will lead to an improvement to the trust’s Require Improvement overall rating.”
Ends
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