07.02.14
Basic improvements needed at Darent Valley hospital
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has a positive and open culture, the chief inspector of hospitals has found. But the CQC report also highlighted “a number of fairly basic areas” which need improvement.
The inspection at Darent Valley Hospital highlighted challenges in A&E, with emergency admissions increasing due to a reduction in other local services. But the trust is not solving the underlying problems, and action must be taken to improve bed management and capacity and to reduce inappropriate attendance at A&E.
The report recommends that the trust take action on ensuring the required number of staff with the correct skills are employed, and patients are treated with dignity and respect, with their confidentiality and privacy respected at all times, particularly in A&E.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: “We found that most of the services at Darent Valley Hospital were good. The majority of patients told my team that they were happy with the care and treatment that they had received, and we identified a number of examples of good practice. Overall, we found a culture where staff were positive, engaged and very loyal to the organisation, and the staff and management at the hospital were open and transparent about the challenges they faced.
“We did, however, find a number of fairly basic areas in which the trust needed to improve. We’d expect people’s privacy and dignity to be respected at all times, and for people to always be cared for in an environment that is designed to meet their needs, by an appropriate number of staff.
“We acknowledge that the trust faces big challenges in its A&E department, and that finding a solution to these challenges is going to involve a joined up approach by the wider health economy. We hope the necessary steps will be taken to deliver a better service to local people.”
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Image c. Claire Stretch