Care Quality Commission rate Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals ‘Good’ for care and delivering responsive services
Following its inspection in November 2015, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) re-inspected some of the services at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in January this year and has improved its assessment on two of its five key areas, rating the Trust ‘Good’ for caring and responsive. In addition, the CQC reported clear improvements and progress improving the ratings across 25 different domains.
This inspection was carried out during the busiest time ever seen at the hospitals when the Trust was caring for a record number of very sick patients. The Trust’s overall rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ remains unchanged as the CQC did not inspect all areas. However, the inspectors reviewed 10 of the Trust’s 18 services and this now means that of the 18 services one is rated as outstanding (SWLEOC), 10 as good and seven as requires improvement.
Daniel Elkeles, Trust Chief Executive said: “I am so pleased that so many areas that the CQC looked at have been rated as good with our overall rating for caring and responsive now being rated as good. That is a fantastic achievement and goes some way to reflect that hard work of all of our staff, despite the fact that the CQC visited us during a very busy time in the hardest winter the NHS has faced. Whilst our overall rating remains the same as not all services were inspected, we are extremely pleased that the CQC inspectors recognised the major improvements which have been made since the last inspection. Many more areas have been rated good by the inspectors and this is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our staff.”
Dr Ruth Charlton, Joint Medical Director and Deputy CEO, said: “Although the inspection team did not review all of our services they reported improvements at both hospitals including children’s and young people services and maternity. Everyone working at Epsom and St Helier is committed to providing high quality and effective patient care and will be using the feedback from the inspection to continue to improve services for local people.”
Full reports including ratings for all key services are available at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RVR.
Further information
The following tables, taken from pages 16 and 17 of the CQC's inspection report provide an overview of the improvements made in ratings of individual services since the last inspection in 2015:
Ratings for St Helier Hospital and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children
For an accessible version of this table, please see page 16 of the inspection report published 14 May 2018 (opens in a new window).
Ratings for Epsom Hospital
For an accessible version of this table, please see page 17 of the inspection report published 14 May 2018 (opens in a new window).
CQC inspectors particularly highlighted medicine at St Helier Hospital as making significant improvement. From a previous rating of requires improvement, the service is now rated as good. Critical care at St Helier Hospital, maternity at St Helier Hospital, children and young people and surgery at Epsom General Hospital all saw their overall rating improve to good.
CQC inspectors commented on outstanding practice at both Epsom General Hospital and St Helier Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children including:
- “The children’s outpatients waiting area at Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children had been developed in response to children, young people and families’ feedback. The activities available in the play area helped to alleviate children and young people’s anxieties whilst they were waiting for their appointment.
- “Through the implementation of the Care, Recognition and Initial Stabilisation in Simulation, (CRISIS) course in the simulation training centre at Epsom General Hospital, staff were able to carry out fully equipped scenarios for the management of the deteriorating patient.
- “The Trust had invested in system of electronic whiteboards on ward areas. This was a plasma screen near the nurses’ station and included data including the patient’s name, whether a venous thromboembolism risk assessment had been completed, National Early Warning Score, and dementia screen. The whiteboards gave snapshot for what was happening with each patient on the ward.”
Whilst we have made progress we know there is a great more to do and we remain committed to continuing to improve and learn so that we can deliver services which meet the highest of standards possible.
