Care Quality Commission report published
The Care Quality Commission published its latest report, rating the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as 'requires improvement' on 15 June 2022. The full report can be found here: https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RJR
The Care and Quality Commission (CQC) has reported that the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been issued with a ‘requires improvement’ rating and provided clear recommendations which will enable the Trust to enhance its care provision for the local community in the future.
Following inspections in February and March of core services at the Trust, all but one of the ratings remained at the same level since the last inspection in 2019.
There were several areas identified in the inspection where action and improvement are still needed including the provision of some elements of maternity care, patient records keeping, training in key skills and risk management in particular areas.
The CQC also issued the Trust with two warning notices relating to its leadership and maternity services requiring it to make urgent improvements in these areas, which the Trust is implementing the necessary actions on.
The report also recognised positive outcomes in a number of areas, with the CQC noting:
- The Trust’s urgent and emergency services maintained a ‘good’ performance in terms of its provision of effective and caring treatment
- Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness across all the core services inspected
- Staff understood how to protect patients from abuse
- A reduced observed rate for perinatal mortality at the Trust (for September 2020 to March 2021)
Dr Susan Gilby, Chief Executive at the Trust said: “The CQC’s report identifies a number of key areas for further improvement and development that are required at the Trust, as well as recognising the work which has taken place to embed a culture of compassionate care and treatment across the Trust’s services.
“The report illustrates where more progress must still be made to ensure the Trust can provide the highest quality of treatment to the local community, which we are committed to delivering. In our Maternity Department, we have implemented and are continuing to develop measures to ensure we can consistently provide patients with the safe and effective care they have a right to expect.
“Despite unprecedented pressure, the Trust’s urgent and emergency services were able to maintain a ‘good’ performance in terms of its provision of effective and caring treatment, which is a testament to the professionalism and commitment of our staff.
“We are now working hard across the Trust to implement the CQC’s recommendations, so we can continue to make improvements and deliver increasingly high-quality care to our communities in the future.”
The CQC inspected four areas and services – urgent and emergency services, surgery, maternity and medical care at the Countess of Chester Hospital – as well as undertaking a ‘well-led’ inspection for the Trust overall.