NHS trust must improve

Review finds care good overall but safety ‘inadequate’

THE NHS trust that runs Hillingdon’s hospitals has been warned it must improve by England’s chief inspector.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as ‘requires improvement’ following a five-day inspection in October 2014.

Overall, the trust was rated ‘good’ at being caring, ‘requires improvement’ for being effective, responsive and well-led, and ‘inadequate’ for safety.

As a result, it was issued with two warning notices demanding improvements.

In a report published on Tuesday last week the watchdog said national waiting time targets for emergency care were being met – however patients were being put at risk because of failures of systems and processes.

The chief inspector of hospitals, professor Sir Mike Richards, said: “When we inspected the hospitals run by the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we saw that the trust had failed to take sufficient action on a number of matters of patient safety which they had already identified as presenting a risk.

“We saw that the workforce at the trust was committed and we saw some examples of good practice. The trust must build on these areas and work harder on managing risks to patients effectively.

“People are entitled to receive treatment and care in services which are consistently safe, effective, caring and responsive to their needs. We will return in due course to check that the improvements we have identified have been made.”

Shane DeGaris, the trust’s chief executive, said: “Our overall rating is not good enough for a well-performing trust and we are determined to improve it. We aim to provide the highest standards of care to all our patients and we will use this report to help us make improvements wherever they are needed.

“The inspectors recognised and praised our staff for their commitment, compassion and desire to provide high standards of care to patients. Patient feedback to the CQC inspectors was positive about the trust’s staff and services. This is a solid foundation for us to make the improvements that need to be made.”