CQC finds ‘significant improvements’ at two Barts hospitals as NHS’s largest trust ‘moves in right direction’

The CQC has found “significant improvements” and improved its rating of two major hospitals run by the NHS’s largest trust.

The Royal London Hospital has jumped from ‘requires improvement’ to a ‘good’ rating whilst Newham University Hospital left behind its ‘inadequate’ rating and is now judged to be ‘requires improvement’ following inspections at the end of last year.

Both hospitals are run by Barts Health NHS Trust in London, which last month was taken out of special measures for quality after nearly four years, with inspectors finding a substantial improvement in the quality of services.

Now, CQC inspectors have found significant changes at two of the trust’s hospitals, with staff at Royal London Hospital telling inspectors that “cultural issues that had been endemic in previous reports” were no longer an issue, and that staff attendance and morale had improved considerably.

Leadership of maternity and end of life care was far more visible, with a maternity champion in place to improve board involvement, and the CQC said the system to report and manage risk was now comprehensive and embedded.

England’s chief inspector of hospitals, Ted Baker, said that the ‘good’ rating for maternity and end of life care at the hospital was a “significant achievement” for which the management and staff deserved praise.

Newham University Hospital was issued with a formal warning notice following its previous inspection, but the CQC said the hospital had reacted quickly, with a new leadership team implementing a comprehensive action plan within a month of the notice to address the concerns.

Particular praise was given to the director of midwifery Gloria Rowland for personally spearheading an improvement plan in response to the warning notices. Tony Halton, managing director of Newham, said the team had “responded magnificently.”

Previous concerns such as overheating rooms, damaged fridges and poor hygiene in waste management had also all been improved or replaced, although inspectors warned at ‘requires improvement’, the hospital still had a long road ahead.

Baker commented: “Newham University Hospital had a vision for what it wanted to achieve in improving key areas of safety and leadership with the involvement of staff.

“However, while its ‘requires improvement’ rating is better than its previous ‘inadequate’, there is still a long way to go and many more improvements that I’d like to see.”

Alwen Williams, CEO of Barts Health, said he was “delighted” at the marked improvements and highlighted outstanding practice, stating it was “further evidence that the trust is moving in the right direction.”

Barts Health NHS Trust was placed in special measures in 2015 after inspectors found serious failures, a culture of bullying and failing management at its three acute hospitals and specialist sites.

The trust was taken out of special measures for quality last month after its services had “transformed”, but the trust does remain in financial special measures.