Health trust’s action plan after warning
York inspection leads to changes including specialist nurses
The trust that runs Scarborough Hospital has submitted an action plan to health inspectors after a damning review found significant safety about the standard of care patients were receiving at York Hospital.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust it must make urgent improvements and served it with a warning notice following an inspection at York Hospital in March.
It was carried out because the watchdog had received “significant safety concerns about fundamental standards of patient care.”
It issued the trust with a warning notice in response to its ineffective systems for managing patient risk assessments, nutrition and hydration, pressure area care and falls prevention.
In a letter to the inspector, chief nurse Heather McNair said that while “a number of actions have been completed
to improve quality and safety across the organisation”, there was “much work to do”.
Specialist nutrition and hydration nurses have been recruited at both York and Scarborough, according to the action plan.
A simplified nursing risk assessment document has been created to make it easier for staff to complete and mental capacity advisors are to be recruited.
The report highlighted concerns about short staffing. Beds have been reduced on one ward while another has been shut altogether to increase staff numbers elsewhere in the hospital.
A full inspection of the hospital is due to take place in the next three months.
Trust chief executive Simon Morritt said in his July board report: “We absolutely recognise the seriousness of the concerns raised by the CQC and since their visit there have been a number of actions taken to improve quality and safety across the organisation.”
The hospital remains under pressure from the effects of Covid-19. Mr Morritt said: “We continue to have significantissueswith[patient]flow on both of our acute sites.”