HEALTH chiefs have welcomed the decision to lift the trust which runs the Worcestershire Royal Hospital from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which also runs Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital, is no longer rated inadequate in any area by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) according to its latest findings released today (Thursday).
However Matthew Hopkins, the outgoing chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, confirmed a detailed action plan would be ‘developed and implemented’ as it bids to rid itself of the low grading from the health watchdog.
Worcestershire’s main hospitals, including the Kidderminster Treatment Centre, were moved out of special measures after nearly five years in 2020.
Previous inspections had highlighted failings in emergency care and described ‘stretched and overcrowded’ services.
Before Mr Hopkins arrival in 2019, the Trust had been languishing in special measures since 2015 but speaking after publication of the report, the health boss was pleased progress had been recognised.
“We are pleased the positive progress we have made to improve care for patients in our emergency departments has been recognised and our overall rating in this area has improved at both the Alexandra and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals.
“This latest report means that we are no longer rated inadequate in any area across any of our hospitals – which is positive news for our patients, staff and local communities.
“Outstanding areas of practice were also recognised in both of our Emergency Departments, where our staff – who are rightly praised in the report for their compassion and kindness despite working in extremely difficult conditions – are continuing to work incredibly hard to ensure patients get the help they need, as quickly and safely as possible in the face of continuing unprecedented demand.
“Following the inspection in November, a number of immediate actions were taken to address areas of concern – for example, improving the way we safely discharge patients home, or the place they call home, from our dedicated discharge lounges,” he added.
The Trust has been blighted by long handover delays from ambulances, particularly at the Worcestershire Royal. We reported last year on one delay of 14 hours before a patient was admitted to Accident and Emergency.
“We continue to work closely with West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) colleagues and our partners in the local health and care system to explore all possible ways of safely reducing waiting times and improving ambulance handover delays, which remains our number one quality and safety improvement priority,” Mr Hopkins added.
“The opening of the first floor of the refurbished Aconbury East building at Worcestershire Royal Hospital at the end of last year has also given us additional capacity, greater flexibility on use of space and better opportunities to deploy staff flexibly, while at the same time the work is continuing on the ground floor of Aconbury East to complete the new and expanded Emergency Department which we are expecting to open in early Autumn.
“A detailed action plan following the publication of the report will now be developed and implemented to continue the improvements.”
