06.02.14
‘Swift’ action needed at Princess Royal hospital
There is still much more to do to address problems at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Kent, the CQC has found.
The chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, has published his first report into the hospital. Following the dissolution of South London Healthcare NHS Trust last October, the hospital was taken over by King’s College Hospital NHS FT.
The report highlighted a number of significant failings, including poor management of patient records, long waiting times for A&E, and poor patient flow, leading to difficulty transferring patients.
Action must be taken to address these issues, as well as engagement and support for all senior staff; embedding ownership for improvement and systems for monitoring performance, quality and safety of care at every level in the hospital; ensuring documentation is accurately completed; and ensuring staff adhere to infection control policies and procedures.
Prof Richards said: “The scale, number and longstanding nature of many of the problems that King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust inherited at the Princess Royal University Hospital should not be underestimated. The trust has told us that it is already aware of the issues and has developed action plans to begin to address them.
“We did find areas in which we thought the trust needed to take swift action to fix some of the problems, for example, improving the availability of medical records and waiting times in the A&E department. Since the inspection, the trust has taken some action and further action is planned. We will return in due course to check that this has been done.
“This is a hospital which has its problems, but my team were impressed by the motivation and morale of the staff they met. They are keen to engage with the improvement programme, and are to be commended for maintaining their commitment while working in difficult circumstances for a long period of time.”
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