Published on: 7 July 2023
George Eliot Hospital’s Chief Executive has welcomed the findings of a report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following a recent unannounced inspection of Urgent and Emergency Care services.
The independent regulator, which monitors health and social care services in England, visited George Eliot Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) in April 2023 – upgrading the rating to ‘Good’ and describing “a dedicated and professional team of staff across all grades”.
Inspectors found that the service planned care to meet the needs of local people and took account of patients’ individual needs. Despite national challenges, people could access the service when they needed it, finding that the service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety and infection risk well. Inspectors also praised the improvement on workplace culture and its positive impact on patient care.
The report highlights a series of innovations in the ED department designed to improve patient care, many of them in direct response to patient feedback, including:
- subtle calm music being played in the waiting room which also had voice commands which told the patients an accurate waiting time to be seen.
- The ‘Bluebell Room’ - a non-clinical room for people who were end of life or suffering from a miscarriage. This meant that they were given the privacy they needed in a difficult time.
- upgraded mental health assessment areas with access to TVs, wall murals and circadian rhythm lighting.
- signs were changed to purple and white following feedback from a visually impaired patient and consultation with the Trust’s dementia team.
The CQC praised the open culture of the department where patients, their families and staff could raise concerns without fear.
Inspectors described a culture where staff felt respected, supported and valued and were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. The service promoted equality and diversity in daily work and provided opportunities for career development. The report described an open culture where patients, their families and staff could raise concerns without fear.
During the inspection, the CQC reported that nurses and doctors in the Emergency Department spoke highly of each other and worked well as a team. They witnessed an inclusive culture and good understanding between staff in different roles and the pressures they each faced. All staff spoke highly of the local team with ED nurses
and doctors mostly working well together. The leaders described the team as going from “strength to strength”, reporting that they were sharing ideas, challenging each other, and putting patients first.
The report gives a balanced overview in the context of the national picture and offers recommendations of further improvement work and ‘should do’s’ which the team are already working on.
Welcoming the report, George Eliot Hospital’s Chief Executive Glen Burley said: “This report is a huge vote of confidence in our dedicated teams and the care they provide to local people. It reflects the improvement we have made as an Emergency Department and as a hospital since the CQC visited us in 2019. Despite the immense pressures that our teams face every day, the report reflects the care and compassion of the team and their vision to EXCEL at patient care in line with our Trust values.
Our Emergency Department is busier than ever; but through teamwork, professionalism and a supportive, open culture we are offering quality care to our population – often under very demanding circumstances. We are continuing to seek ways to improve our care and reduce the time that people wait to be treated.
“Reading this report makes me extremely proud of my colleagues”.
Read the full report on the CQC website here.