The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published three reports on services run by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, including an outstanding rating for neonatal services, following an inspection in May.
CQC carried out an unannounced focused inspection of maternity services and medical care at Bradford Royal Infirmary, due to receiving some whistleblowing concerns from staff and concerns received from people using the services around safe care and treatment.
Inspectors also looked at neonatal services due to concerns raised about how the service learned from incidents.
Following the inspection, the services have been rated as follows:
Neonatal services – as well as this being rated outstanding overall, it has also been rated outstanding for being caring and well-led. Safe, effective and responsive have been rated as good. This is the first time it’s been rated as a standalone service. It was previously part of children and young people’s services.
Maternity services – this has been re-rated as requires improvement overall, safe has improved from requires improvement to good and well-led has been re-rated as good. Effective and responsive were not included in this inspection and remain rated as requires improvement, and caring was not inspected and remains rated as good.
Medical care – overall, as well as being safe and well-led have been re-rated as good. Effective has been re-rated as requires improvement. Caring and responsive were not included in this inspection and remain rated as good.
CQC has also carried out an inspection of medical care at St Luke’s Hospital, as well as a well-led inspection of the trust, and the findings from these inspections will publish in reports on the website once all of the usual quality assurance processes have been completed.
The overall ratings for Bradford Royal Infirmary and the trust remain rated as good.
Sheila Grant, CQC deputy director of operations for the north, said:
Before our inspection at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we had received some concerns about the care and treatment people were receiving in medicines, neonatal and maternity services. However, when we inspected these three services, we found the concerns were unsubstantiated and people using the services spoke positively about their experiences of care.
In neonatal services, we found staff were providing exceptional care and treatment to people. Safety and continuity of care was consistently a priority for families and their babies, so they received the best possible experience during a difficult time. In this service we were pleased to see an open and honest culture, and managers regularly praised the hard work and commitment shown by staff.
Staff in medical care showed compassion towards people. People told us they felt included in their care planning and were positive about their experience. Leaders had also created a culture of safety and learning from incidents, to help prevent them from happening again.
In maternity services, we found there were ongoing improvements, and people were positive about their care, praising their midwives and saying they would recommend them to others.
The trust should look to learn how they can extend the excellent practice we found in neonatal to their other services. We will continue to monitor the trust and will return to check on progress.
Inspectors found:
In neonatal services
- Families felt cared for in a safe environment that was designed to meet their needs.
- Staff supported and involved families to understand their baby’s condition and make decisions about their care and treatment.
- Appropriate processes were in place to ensure risk assessments were carried out in a timely way.
- There was a clear commitment to taking action to safeguard people from abuse and neglect.
In maternity services
- People received timely, compassionate and person-centred care from experienced and skilled staff in a safe environment designed to meet their needs.
- Staff felt able to raise concerns and had confidence action would be taken.
- Lessons were learned from safety incidents and complaints which resulted in improvements.
- People felt informed about their medicines, however, waiting times with the pharmacy department often led to delayed discharges.
In medical care
- Staff supported people to make informed decisions about their care and treatment.
- People felt confident and comfortable to raise concerns.
- The service had relevant information promoting healthy lifestyles and support on wards.
- Staff knew how to support people who lacked capacity to make their own decisions or had mental health needs.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.