Harvey A&E still needs improving

The William Harvey Hospital has been told its emergency department still ‘requires improvement’ following a latest inspection.

Health bosses at the Kennington Road site were given the rating by the CQC following an inspection in March.

However, inspectors said there were improvements in some areas of the hospital, which is run by the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, since its last inspection in 2018.

It was rated ‘good’ for being caring, but is still rated as ‘requires improvement’ for being safe, effective and responsive.

Inspectors found it also also requires improvement for leadership.

CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals, Dr Nigel Acheson said: “Our main concerns surrounded staffing and safety in the [A&E] department.

“Despite staff treating patients with compassion we found that there were not always enough qualified staff on duty, this had an impact on the quality and safety of care of patients within in the department.

“People could not always access the service when they needed it and did sometimes have to wait too long for treatment. Staff did not always provide patients with pain relief when they needed it.”

The East Kent Hospitals trust says it has taken immediate action to address issues raised in the report, including creating more space in the department, continuing to recruit more nurses, and ensuring risk assessments are consistently carried out.

The William Harvey’s A&E was inspected