21.02.19
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust hospital hit with ‘requires improvement’ rating again by CQC
The health inspectorate has told University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust that it must improve its diagnostic and pharmacy services at Derriford Hospital following its issuing of a ‘requires improvement’ rating for the facility.
Inspectors with the CQC visited Derriford Hospital in December 2018 to assess improvements made after rating the facility as ‘requires improvement’ during an inspection in August 2018.
Following on from the visit last year, inspectors found that no progress had been made on initial issues found in August – such as the diagnostic imaging service not meeting the seven-day internal target for the imaging of patients suspected of having cancer.
The report made a particular note of the need for a “better understanding” of the issues at board level – and, although there had been some progress, the changes that were needed in staff culture would take time to be implemented.
A statement from the trust conceded that improvements need to be demonstrated against the seven-day internal target for the imaging of patients suspected of having cancer in CT, MRI, or ultrasound, and in the culture of the department so staff satisfaction improves and “feel confident and able to speak up.”
Chief executive of the trust Ann James said the trust will continue to work on improvements to demonstrate that the concerns around diagnostic imaging “no longer apply.”
“On a positive note, it has been very pleasing to see that since the inspection in December, the trust has made a significant and sustained improvement in performance against the seven-day internal target,” James added.
Last year inspectors found that there were no safeguards to ensure that patients were adequately advised on their medicines, nor were there any safeguards to check that medicines had been delivered to patients using the trust transport service. During the follow up inspection, CQC officials found there had been progress in addressing the pharmacy area concerns, and issues were continuing to be addressed.
Dr Nigel Acheson, deputy chief inspector of hospitals in the south, said: “It is disappointing to report that since our original inspection, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust has not made enough progress to satisfy our warning notices. Although we have seen real improvements in pharmacy, we have made it clear that we require further work to address the issues we had found in diagnostic services.
“The trust needs to sustain the improvement we have found and address the issues which we have again identified. We will return in due course to ensure that the necessary improvements have been made.”
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Image credit: Geograph