The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has found improvements in the standard of care, following an inspection of urgent and emergency services at George Eliot NHS Hospital, run by George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust.
This focused inspection was carried out in April to assess the quality of care being delivered and check improvements had been made after the service was issued a warning notice following the previous inspection in December 2019.
Following this latest inspection, the overall rating for urgent and emergency care has now improved from requires improvement to good. It has also gone up from requires improvement to good for being safe and responsive. The service improved from inadequate to good for being well-led. Effective was not included in this inspection and remains rated as requires improvement, and caring was also not inspected, therefore it remains rated as good.
The overall rating for George Eliot NHS Hospital has remained rated as requires improvement.
Sonia Brooks, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:
“It was encouraging to see the effort that had gone into making improvements when we visited George Eliot NHS Hospital. We found staff working hard under sustained pressure and leaders managing priorities and issues to nurture a good culture and keep people safe.
“Inspectors found experienced leaders with strong decision-making abilities. They had a good understanding of how the service worked, allowing them to lead the department well under pressure. All staff members told us that leaders were very approachable, visible and they felt united in their approach to providing safe care.
“During our inspection, we found staff had training in key skills, enabling them to provide safe care. They worked with partner organisations to ensure safeguarding was in place for children and they knew how to recognise signs of abuse. They also knew what action to take when people were at risk in the emergency department, to protect them from harm.
“It is encouraging to see the efforts that leaders and staff at George Eliot NHS Hospital have made to improve the quality of care. We will continue to monitor to them to ensure they embed these improvements and continue to build on them to ensure people are continuing to receive high quality care.”
Inspectors found:
- The service had enough staff to care for people and keep them safe
- The service controlled infection risk well
- The service managed medicines and safety incidents well and learned lessons from them
- The service planned care to meet the needs of local people and took account of people’s individual needs
- People could access the service when they needed it
- Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills
- Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work
- Staff felt respected, supported, and valued
- The service was focused on the needs of people receiving care
- Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities.
However,
- Not all staff had completed training including life support and safeguarding.
- People were receiving the right care, but the documentation was not always up to date
- Whilst the hospital was performing better than the England average for meeting national waiting time targets, they were still not always seeing people within a timely manner
- Managers did not always ensure that there was an action plan associated with an audit when they fell below compliance.