Hull Royal Infirmary’s urgent and emergency care provision has now been graded as ‘requires improvement’, the health watchdog confirmed. It is an improvement from its previous ‘inadequate’ rating, however, the CQC said that more needs to be done following an inspection.
The CQC said there were “still some breaches” relating to a safe environment, staffing, infection prevention and control, medicines management, consent to care and treatment, good management, as well as monitoring and improving outcomes for people. However, they found some improvements in urgent and emergency care at the hospital, which is run by Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Following the inspection, which took place on September 16 and 17, the CQC has upgraded the rating from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’ for being safe, effective, responsive and well-led. Caring has gone up from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’.
Karen Knapton, the CQC’s deputy director of operations for the North, said: “When we inspected urgent and emergency care at Hull Royal Infirmary, it was positive to see that some improvements had been made since our previous inspection. However, more work was needed across the department to improve the standard of care people were receiving.
“We found that there had been changes in the leadership team, and they were driving improvements. They’d also created a culture where staff felt more confident speaking up and raising concerns, so people receive safer care.
“Most people and their families were positive about the care they received from staff and felt that they were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff also communicated well with people so that they understood their care and treatment plans.
“However, it was concerning that cleanliness wasn’t a priority in the emergency department, and staff didn’t always clean equipment in between use. This meant that there was an increased risk of infection.
“People felt that the waiting area was busy and lacked space to accommodate everyone attending the service. Additionally, people were waiting for long periods of time on trolleys without anything to relieve their pain such as pressure relieving equipment.
“Whilst the trust has made some improvements, they have more work to do to ensure people receive safe and effective care. We’ll continue to monitor them to make sure this happens.”
In response to the CQC’s findings, the NHS Humber Health Partnership’s Chief Executive, Lyn Simpson has said: “We are very pleased to see that the CQC have acknowledged a number of improvements had been made since our previous inspection. The report notes that changes in the leadership team have driven improvements creating a culture where staff feel more confident speaking up and raising concerns, so people receive safer care.
“They have told us that patients and their families were positive about the care they received from staff and felt that they were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff also communicated well with people so that they understood their care and treatment plans.
“We know that there are still areas where we need to improve, however, and we will work with the team in the Urgent and Emergency Care Group to address these. I would like to congratulate and thank everyone in the department who has worked so hard to deliver this improvement.”
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
