Care Quality Commission say Shropshire's two main hospitals need improvement
A report by the Care Quality Commission has identified important areas for improvement at Shropshire's two main hospitals, whilst praising the caring and compassion of staff.
The report follows a comprehensive inspection by the Care Quality Commission in October last year, during which they assessed The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’s services at the Princess Royal Hospital and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital as well as the community Midwife-Led Maternity Units.
The Care Quality Commission rates services by classifying them as Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate against five criteria including whether services are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
Overall, The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has been rated as “requires improvement” by the Care Quality Commission. Both Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital were also rated as "requires improvement".
The report highlights a number of areas for improvement that the Trust needs to act on. In particular, the report notes that the Trust has identified End of Life Care as an area needing development with progress under way. End of Life Care services at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital were rated “inadequate” mainly due to the outdated mortuary facilities, for which a major upgrade was approved last year.
Immediate action has already been taken by the Trust to address this, which the Care Quality Commission has welcomed in its report. Other areas identified for improvement include staffing levels in A&E, critical care, labour ward and end of life; improving learning and feedback from incidents; mandatory training; surgical pathways particularly in relation to the former use of Ward 31 as an escalation area which has discontinued; and equipment availability.
The report also praises the Trust as being caring and outlines several areas of good practice including outstanding safeguarding procedures, caring and compassionate staff who treated patients with dignity and respect and that the hospitals were clean and well-maintained with low infection rates. It rates maternity & gynaecology, children’s services and outpatients & diagnostic imaging as good at both Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. All three community Midwife-Led Maternity Units were also rated as good.
Peter Herring, Chief Executive of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said:
“We believe that this is a fair and balanced report. It includes some real highlights as well as some things that make uncomfortable reading, which is just as we should expect in a report of such breadth and depth.
“This is a significantly improved picture from the one we would have seen two years ago but there is still a long way to go. It absolutely reflects the journey this organisation is on and the challenges that remain."
