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Care Quality Commission Report
Written by Communications Team   

Following a recent return visit to St Peter’s Hospital, the CQC has now given the Trust a clean bill of health for five of the six quality standards they reviewed, with one concern still noted for record keeping.

Chief Nurse Suzanne Rankin explains more: “Following an unannounced visit by the CQC to St Peter’s Hospital last December, despite acknowledgement of much good work, several concerns were raised. These mainly focused on the use of our Day Surgery unit as an escalation area overnight, which we have now stopped and not used since January. Concerns were also raised around training and support for staff and about the way we record staff training and supervision.

Having responded with a swift action plan, we have done a lot of work since then to improve these standards and I’m delighted that following their return visit on 23rd May, the CQC has declared us fully compliant with five of the six standards they looked at and specifically with all those they had previously found to be of concern. Reassuringly the majority of patients they spoke to were happy and satisfied with their care, and spoke very positively about our staff and, in particular, about how clean our hospital is. Whilst it is clearly disappointing to have a concern still noted around record keeping, we take this very seriously and are doing a lot of work to put this right.”


The CQC found the Trust to be compliant in each of the following standards:
  • Respecting and involving people who use [the Trust’s] services – noting in particular that since the last inspection the Day Surgery Unit has been closed to overnight patients and that staff were treating patients with appropriate dignity and respect.
     
  • Care and welfare of people who use [the Trust’s] services – with many positive comments given by patients about the quality of care they experienced, including one person who described it as ‘absolutely perfect’.
     
  • Meeting nutritional needs – overall patients’ comments about the choice and quality of food were positive and the CQC noted good evidence of patients being helped with feeding (if required) with good nutritional plans in place.
     
  • Cleanliness and infection control – the report includes many positive comments from patients about the cleanliness of ward areas, with good evidence of effective infection control and regular cleaning audits.
     
  • Supporting staff – the Trust is now 95% up to date with mandatory training, and staff also reported improvements in management support with good annual appraisal rates.

But not compliant in:
  • Records – during their visit the CQC found evidence that not all patient care records were kept up to date, with some care plans relating to specific needs (e.g. communication, risk of falling and nutrition) missing.

Suzanne continues: “We now have 14 days to send the CQC our detailed action plan which will describe how we intend to put this right. We have already done a lot of work with staff on this, including looking at simplifying our documentation to make it easier to keep up to date, as well as more intensive training so everyone is clear about their responsibilities. Maintaining accurate documentation is a crucial element of effective patient care and we are determined to get this right.”


Chief Executive Andrew Liles concludes: “Any care that falls short of giving our patients the best possible experience while they are in our hospitals is simply not acceptable. Since the CQC’s initial visit and subsequent report we have made it our priority to resolve the issues they raised as quickly and thoroughly as possible. I am proud of the way staff across both our hospitals have taken this on board and have worked hard to find the right solutions on behalf of our patients. And whilst we are disappointed we still have an outstanding concern relating to record keeping, we are putting all our efforts into resolving this quickly and effectively.”

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 July 2012 11:09