Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to report that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated urgent and emergency services at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan, as ‘Good’.
The inspection, that took place in February and March this year, was unannounced as part of their planned inspection programme.
Chief Nursing Officer, Kev Parker-Evans said: “Our urgent and emergency services being rated ‘Good’ is an excellent achievement in such a challenging environment. I’m extremely proud of all our colleagues and this overall rating reflects the excellent services they provide.”
As well as urgent and emergency services remaining ‘Good’ overall, the rating for well-led, responsive, caring and effective also remains rated as ‘Good’.
Kev continued: “I am pleased the CQC has recognised our positive safety-focussed culture, and that our staff treat people with compassion, kindness and dignity. These are the values our Trust is based upon, and our staff work incredibly hard every day to put patients at the heart of all that they do.”
However, the safe part of the rating has changed from ‘Good’ to ‘Requires Improvement’. This rating was reduced due to not all staff being up to date with some elements of mandatory training at the time of inspection, as well as timeliness of the services and staff shortages.
“There are still some things we need to improve upon, some of which we have already put in place since the CQC’s visit including refurbishments of our waiting room areas providing a better and safer environment for our patients and their families in their time of need.
Kev continued: “I’m delighted that our continuous efforts to learn and improve is reflected in the report which highlights our open and honest culture, and that we have the appropriate procedures in place to put things right, as well as highly skilled staff to deliver person-centred and safe care.
“We would like to reassure the public and our patients that despite the pressures on our services, our commitment to deliver safe and effective care remains a priority.”
During the visit the CQC Inspectors found the following:
- People who use the service, their relatives and carers said they were treated with kindness, compassion, and dignity by staff.
- They felt that staff listened to them and communicated with them appropriately, in a way they could understand.
- The service had a positive safety-focussed culture.
- Leaders ensured staff had the right skills and were recruited safely for their roles.
- The service had the right policies and procedures in place to handle incidents. Safety incidents and complaints were treated as opportunities to put things right, learn and improve.
- Staff understood duty of candour and were open and honest with people and their families when things went wrong.
- People who use the service acknowledged the difficult circumstances staff were working in and they appreciated the care, kindness and compassion that was shown to them.
- People who use the service, their relatives and carers told us the services were clean, tidy, and easily accessible.
Kev concluded: “It was particularly pleasing to see that the CQC found a positive culture across our urgent and emergency care services, where staff worked well together despite the difficult circumstances for the benefit of local people, which we will continue to do on our journey to outstanding. The team should all feel justifiably proud of their professionalism, care and compassion they demonstrate every day.”