Boost for hospital trust after review
NICK HUGHES
EAST Lancashire Hospital Trust has received a ratings boost from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following a review.
The Trust, which runs Hyndburn’s local hospitals, Burnley General and the Royal Blackburn, has improved to a ‘good’ rating from its previous ‘requires improvement’.
Three years ago the Trust had been in crisis after being listed under ‘special measures’ due to high mortality rates following the Keogh Mortality Review and, after a reinspection in 2014, it was found to require improvement in safety of services, the surgery and A&E units including urgent, medical and endof-life care.
Chief executive Kevin McGee paid tribute to staff following the rating.
He said: “I am delighted that the CQC have rated our Trust as ‘good’ – this is a reflection of the hard work that our committed and dedicated staff have been carrying out ever since the Trust was put into special measures in 2013.
“I am very proud to say that there is now official confirmation that people in the local area can have confidence in the services the Trust delivers and be assured that they will identified staffing as an issue for the Trust, falling below expected levels for registered nurses with ‘shortfalls filled with overtime, bank or agency staff’.
The CQC added that, despite improvements, the Trust must also improve its duty to ‘notify patients of safety incidents’.
Both the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Hospitals received separate ‘good’ overall ratings following inspections in May 2016 to ensure required improvements had been made.
Certain services have also been identified for improvement with higher paediatric re-admission rates after discharge than the national average and concern among some patients about a lack of physiotherapy in some wards.
The standard of nursing for the Trust has improved across all areas with work underway to utilise links with ethnic minority groups to have greater representation in higher paying jobs and management.
Mr McGee added: “Our next goal is to improve even further, ensuring those areas still requiring improvement are tackled, and work towards receiving an ‘outstanding’ rating in the future.”