26.07.18
Keogh Review trust laments slow progress after poor CQC rating, but pledges action
Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ following an inspection from the CQC.
The Keogh Review hospital was stuck in special measures for almost four years, finally being taken out in March 2017.
But after a CQC report released today, the trust was rated ‘inadequate’ for its use of resources and ‘requires improvement’ in the well-led domain.
Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of Medway NHS FT, said: “Many of the concerns raised in the report have already been addressed by the trust. An action plan has been produced and we look forward to working with the CQC to make further improvements in response to the report.”
Dwyer added that “of course we would have liked to have seen more progress,” but given Medway’s history the inspection was “bound to be a challenge.”
Inspectors evaluated whether services were well-led, safe, and responsive, and found the services still required improvement. The hospital did not also meet requirements that a consultant cover must be provided for a minimum of 16 hours a day – standards set by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
Despite the CQC rating, a number of areas of outstanding practice were highlighted. The rating for surgery has also improved in the caring domain from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good.’
Dwyer said: “The CQC’s findings reflect our own self-assessments, which were carried out before the inspections. We know we have made some excellent progress over the last two years, but also that we still have more to do before we can say we are brilliant. We are pleased to be able to say that Medway is a safe organisation; this is something that our communities expect and deserve.
“The CQC has recognised the stability and capability of our leadership team and with our fantastic committed staff here at Medway, we have exactly the right people in place to take us to ‘brilliant.’ We are also focusing on improving our operational performance so the experience of our patients is improved, while at the same time planning for the future.”
She also argued that Medway is pleased it has retained the ‘requires improvement’ rating despite a very challenging winter.
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Image credit: Geograph