CQC rate critical care service at Worcester hospital 'good'

Inspectors found improvements in the critical care service at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, run by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, following an inspection in December.  

This inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.

Critical care’s overall rating improved from requires improvement to good, which is the same for being safe, responsive and well-led. It was again rated good for being effective and caring.

Dr Sian Bhardwaj, who is a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine and the clinical director for intensive care medicine at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The Care Quality Commission's recognition of our Critical Care service as "Good" reflects the dedication and hard work of our team, who consistently go above and beyond to deliver high-quality, compassionate care to those in need.

“We are immensely proud of this accomplishment, which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and ensuring the highest standards of care for our patients. 

“As a service, we remain focused on continuing to meet the evolving needs of our patients and enhancing the service that we provide to our community. We extend our thanks to our staff, patients, and partners for their support and contribution to this achievement.”

Worcestershire Royal Hospital’s overall rating remains requires improvement.

The trust’s rating has not changed following the inspection, remaining requires improvement overall.

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Charlotte Rudge, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:  “When we inspected the critical care service at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, we found a service where leaders and staff were working together well to ensure people received good care and there was a positive culture within the service.

“We found staff treated people with compassion and kindness. They took time to support people and their relatives and to understand what was important to them, ensuring they retained what was special in their lives.

“Staff should be extremely proud of the care they’re providing to people using the service and their families. Other providers of similar services should look at this report to see if there’s anything they can learn.”

Inspectors found: 

• The service had enough staff to care for people and keep them safe.
• Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect people from abuse, and managed safety well.
• The service controlled infection risk well.
• Staff mostly assessed risks, acted on them and kept good care records.
• Medicines were managed well.
• The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent.
• Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of people receiving care.

However:

• The trust was not always compliant with national guidance.
• People weren’t always discharged in a timely way due to capacity across the hospital.
• There had been a delay submitting and validating the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre data which meant information about performance and benchmarking the service was not assured.