Hospital inspectors see brighter future
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has recognised encouraging progress at London North West University Healthcare, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
Its overall rating remains requires improvement, but CQC bosses acknowledged positive changes following an unannounced inspection earlier this year, upgrading eight domains across the two hospitals to a good rating.
The inspection team looked at medical care and surgery at Ealing and Northwick Park hospitals along with how well-led the trust was.
Nicola Wise, Head of Hospital Inspection at the CQC, said: “Although the rating of the trust remained the same, we did find improvements since the previous inspection. When considering the additional challenges posed by Covid-19, the trust is making encouraging progress.
“We identified several areas it must improve on to ensure patients consistently receive safe care and treatment that meets their needs, including ensuring all services are adequately staffed and providing adequate mental health provision.
“However, good work included how the trust maintained its cancer services throughout the pandemic and how teams collaborated in surgery at Ealing Park Hospital.”
Pippa Nightingale, Chief Executive of LNWH, said: “It’s been an incredibly tough couple of years, but our teams have shown the qualities that can and will see us improve our ratings as we come out of the pandemic.
“We need to keep the momentum up, keep moving forward and work more closely with our communities. I joined LNWH several months ago and came here because I believed in its potential. This is an encouraging report that recognises how far we’ve come, as well as noting the work we still have to do.
Inspectors recognised the trust’s leadership team encouraged an open and honest culture and this was reflected in areas that had previously been criticised, such as maternity.
Positive takeaways for staff included the improved rating of Good in eight domains, clear evidence of the commitment and kindness of staff and how well they looked after patients along with support offered to patients and loved ones.
Key services were available seven days a week and examples of outstanding medical care were found in Ealing Hospital including collaborative and multi-disciplinary ways of working to improve patient outcomes.
LNWH will now focus on the areas highlighted for improvement in the report, including improving its interaction with mental health services, developing a clear local cancer strategy, and conducting a significant recruitment drive.