Kentish Express Ashford & District
Hospital future looks healthy as improvements win praise
No longer a ‘special’ case, says inspector
The William Harvey Hospital is set to be pulled out of special measures after health inspectors found it had made significant improvements.
After the inspection in September by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), all sites run by the East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) – including the Harvey – have been praised for making important changes.
The Willesborough hospital has still been rated ‘requires improvement’ overall, but inspectors found it had i mproved since t heir previous visits.
The Trust was plunged into special measures by Monitor – now NHS Improve- ment – in 2014 after damning reports deemed it unsafe and it was graded ‘inadequate’ overall. Now, the CQC’s chief hospitals inspector, Prof Sir Mike Richards, has said sufficient progress has been made to exit special measures. He said: “I am pleased to report that we have found good evidence that the trust continues to make steady progress. “It is clear that the staff have worked hard to ensure further improvements to the quality and safety of care.
“The leadership of the trust is stronger and I am satisfied that they are engaging more closely with their staff to ensure the trust is running more effectively. We can see real benefits for patients.”
Prof Richards said while the overall rating had not changed from the inspection in July 2015, some key areas had made significant improvements, including A&E departments and maternity wards.
He added: “There are still areas where further work is needed and I expect the trust to address these as a matter of priority in the coming months.
“However EKHUFT has clearly benefited from the support provided by NHS Improvement and I am pleased to recommend that the trust is removed from special measures from a quality perspective.”
The William Harvey Hospital, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (QEQM), in Margate and Kent and Canterbury Hospital (K&C), in Canterbury were all rated ‘requires improvement overall’.
The William Harvey was rated good for critical care and outpatient and diagnostic imaging.
K&C was rated good for urgent care, critical care, services for children and young people, and outpatient and diagnostic imaging.
QEQM was also rated good for medical care, critical care, services for children and young people, and outpatient and diagnostic.
Buckland Hospital in Dover and Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone, both run by EKHUFT, were rated good in 2015 and not reinspected in September.