UHDB achieves 'Good' CQC rating following merger
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, which was formed on 1 July 2018, has been rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following its first inspection.
The CQC recognised significant improvements in several areas, including ‘End of Life’, which was rated as ‘Outstanding’ for Responsive, a first for the Trust.
Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive, said: “We’re pleased with the rating, it’s a testament to the hard work of our 12,500 staff across all five of our hospitals. Since we merged the two trusts in July 2018 there has been an incredible amount of work done behind the scenes to change the way we care for patients and it is pleasing to see this has been recognised in the CQC report.
“We can’t be complacent as we know there are areas that require improvement and we’ll be working hard over the coming weeks and months to put in place actions to meet some of the areas outlined in the report. I don’t want these to deflect from what is a fantastic achievement for staff and we’re already looking forward to our next inspection to do even better.”
Cathy Winfield, Executive Chief Nurse, said: “The report is very complimentary of staff and volunteers at UHDB and it picks out areas of outstanding practice, including an example where the bereavement service arranged for 200 people to attend a war veteran’s funeral after he sadly died in one of our hospitals without any friends or family. We’re very fortunate to have so many compassionate staff and it’s incredibly assuring for our staff and patients that the CQC have rated us as ‘Good’ for Caring.
“We’ve seen real improvements in lots of areas including End of Life care at our hospitals and we now have an ‘Outstanding’ rating for Responsiveness at Royal Derby and four of the five areas at Queen’s Hospital are rated as ‘Good’. Some of the work to make this possible includes the pop up bedrooms scheme, which is an initiative to enhance the environment of the end of life care patients’ room, right through to the support provided by our bereavement teams.
“Our Maternity and Gynaecology teams at Queen’s Hospital Burton and Samuel Johnson Community Hospital have also done exceptional work to improve their rating since the Burton inspection in 2015.
“We’re now focused on responding to the feedback and continuing to improve services for our patients and communities.”
Overall there has been an increase in the number of areas rated ‘Good’, but parts of the Trust still have ratings of ‘Requires Improvement’.
Dr Magnus Harrison, Executive Medical Director, said: “The CQC rating has created a real sense of optimism across the Trust however, there are areas we still need to work on. The responsiveness of our urgent care services was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’, and this is very much due rising demand and the time it takes to treat or admit patients into our hospitals. We are working hard to improve this, including redesigning how patients are admitted at the ‘front door’ of the hospital and creating additional bed capacity at Royal Derby and Queen’s Hospital. We’ll be keeping patients, the public and our partners fully informed about our plans for improving urgent and emergency care.”
John Rivers, Chair, said: “As recently announced, I shall be retiring as Chair of the Trust after 10 years in the role. I would like to thank all the staff and volunteers who together have achieved this rating of ‘Good’ from the CQC. We’ve made improvements throughout the hospitals since the last CQC inspections in 2014 and will continue to do so. It is a credit to you all and the community should be proud of its hospitals and the services they provide.”
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton is the largest hospital in the area, employing 12,500 staff across five hospitals. It provides a wide range of acute clinical services for a population of one million people in Southern Derbyshire, East and South-east Staffordshire and North West Leicestershire and surrounding areas. The Trust also provides specialised services for a wider area.