Media statement: Care Quality Commission (CQC) recognises improvements in our emergency department (ED)
Background
The Care Quality Commission has today (Friday 16 June) issued its latest report following a visit to the emergency department at The Princess Alexandra Hospital. In response to this, the CQC removed the conditions from our registration as a service provider in the emergency department (ED) under Section 31 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This inspection sees the rating for ED move up from inadequate to requires improvement, together with the ratings for how safe and well-led the service is. Our ED was also inspected in terms of how effective and responsive it is, but was not given a rating. This inspection does not affect the overall rating for the trust, which remains requires improvement overall.
This latest report is recognition of the hard work and dedication of our urgent and emergency care team to make a range of improvements to patient care.
You can read the full report here >
The CQC implemented the conditions in August 2021, focusing on that we must:
- Ensure there are sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled, competent and experienced nursing staff at all times to meet the needs of patients within all areas of ED
- Operate an effective system which will ensure that every patient attending ED has an initial assessment of their condition to enable staff to identify the most clinically urgent patients and to ensure they are triaged, assessed and appropriately streamlined
- Devise a process and undertake a review of current and future patients’ clinical risk assessments, care planning and physiological observations, and ensure that the level of patients’ needs are individualised, recorded and acted upon. This must include, but not limited to skin integrity, falls, and mental health assessments
- Implement an effective system with the aim of ensuring all patients who present to the ED have patient observations completed within 15 minutes of arrival and as appropriately thereafter
Following a review of the evidence we submitted and a focused inspection on 29 March, the CQC have removed these conditions after recognising service improvements. Further work will continue to progress and implement other overall improvements across ED including continuing to focus on staffing; the timeliness of risk assessments, care records and observations being completed; and reviewing processes to enhance patient flow through the department.
Statement
Lance McCarthy, chief executive, said: “I am proud of how colleagues have worked together to focus on improving our urgent and emergency care services and their commitment to patient care.
“We will continue to support our urgent and emergency care colleagues in their journey to sustain these substantial improvements to patient safety and implement further work towards a modern, integrated and outstanding service for our patients.”