17.07.14
George Eliot Trust brought out of special measures
The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust is to be brought out of special measures following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection, which found the quality of care provided by the trust to be ‘Good’.
NHS regulator Monitor put the trust into special measures in July last year following Sir Bruce Keogh’s report into concerns around mortality rates and standards of care.
During this time, the trust had been linked with being taken over or merged into another organisation, but in March – following ‘major’ improvements in clinical performance – the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) decided this was no longer an ‘appropriate’ option.
Now, after a CQC inspection in April 2014, inspectors rated medical care, critical care, maternity and family planning services, children’s care, end of life care and outpatients’ services as Good. But Accident and Emergency (A&E) and surgery at the hospital were rated Requires Improvement.
Overall, CQC rated the hospital as Good, as it did the wider trust after it was rated Good for caring, effectiveness, responsiveness and leadership.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said: “Our inspection in April found significant improvements in a number of areas, and I am very pleased to be able to recommend that George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust should exit special measures.
“Some improvements are still needed, so the trust cannot be complacent. But, as the trust has moved forward and made improvements across its services, CQC has developed confidence in the trust’s leadership to continue to work to make further changes for the good of its patients.”
Kevin McGee, chief executive at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, said he was delighted that all the hard work and dedication of staff over the past year in implementing a number of key changes has resulted in such a good outcome.
“We are however very mindful of the need to continue to review these changes and to build on the progress made in order to achieve even better patient care for the future,” he added.
Despite the good news for the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, the news was not as positive at Tameside Hospital which will remain in special measures after being rated ‘Inadequate’ the CQC.
The watchdog said that despite improvements and hard work at the NHS Foundation Trust, ‘significant issues’ remained over patient care.
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