CQC reports good progress at hospital Trust since last inspection

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has reported progress across a number of key areas and services at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), with the Trust improving its overall rating from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’.

Following an inspection in October 2023, and a well-led Inspection in November 2023, the Trust is now rated as ‘good’ for ‘caring’. The ‘safe’ and ‘responsive’ domains, previously rated as ‘inadequate’, are now rated as ‘requires improvement’. The ‘effective’ and ‘well-led’ domains remain rated as ‘requires improvement’.

There were several areas identified in the inspection where action and improvement are still needed including improving urgent and emergency care, supporting the privacy and dignity of patients in escalation areas, improving flow, reducing waiting times and continuing to progress the Trust’s improvement journey.

The report also recognised that the Trust had made progress across a number of key areas, with the CQC noting:

- The Children and Young People service is now rated as ‘good’ across all five domains, with a significant improvement from the previous rating of ‘inadequate’

- End of Life Care at both hospitals was rated as ‘good’ overall, with a significant improvement from the previous rating of ‘inadequate’. Dedicated end of life care champions were on every ward, who provided specialist support on a day-to-day basis

- Maternity services improved their overall rating to ‘good’, with staff being friendly and helpful and the service working together for the benefit of women, birthing people and babies

- There was an improving culture of high-quality, sustainable care

- The Trust listened and learned from feedback through a range of services

- The Trust had a good understanding of quality improvement methods

- The CQC reported there was a long-term commitment and desire to improve the Trust with patient experience clearly at the heart of everything they did

The report shows that whilst progress has been made, there is more to do on the Trust’s improvement journey, particularly within urgent and emergency care services (UEC). There are significant improvements required across the UEC pathway to improve patient experience with a number of ‘requires improvement’ and ‘inadequate’ ratings across both hospital sites.

The CQC also recognised that within the Trust there was understanding of the significant operational and financial challenges faced and the need to progress with the Trust’s improvement journey, continuing to work with partners.

Louise Barnett, Chief Executive, said: “We welcome the CQC inspection report. The report identifies the good progress happening in the Trust, but also that we need to continue our focus on improvement as we strive to deliver excellent care for all our communities.

“We are proud of the way our valued colleagues have led improvements and the commitment to learning. We recognise our colleagues are continuing to work in a difficult environment, facing significant pressures, and are grateful for their continued dedication, compassion and care towards patients and families.

“The report reinforces the work still to do and we will build on our progress and incorporate the learning into our approach. We will continue to build a Trust that everyone is proud to work for and would recommend as a place to receive care.

“We are committed to working with and listening to feedback from our patients, communities, partners and colleagues as we enter this next phase on our improvement journey.”