Improvement needed at Kettering Hospital

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found a number of improvements at Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust but say further improvement is needed to ensure people receive the standard of care they expect.

On 14 and 15 June 2017, inspectors visited the trust unannounced to check whether improvements had been made following its previous inspection in October 2016.

Further visits also took place on 22 and 28 June when inspectors met with the leadership team.

Progress had been made in the areas inspected and the requirements of the warning notice in November 2016 had been met. The leaders of the trust and the services visited had made significant progress to improve and address concerns raised prior.

Trust managers now have an effective oversight of the hospital’s referral to treatment (RTT) performance and could show how the recording system worked and how many patients were waiting to be seen.

Patients were positive about the treatment they received regarding inpatient and outpatient services at the hospital.

However, more work is needed to ensure patients receive the best possible care across all wards and departments. The CQC has told the trust to improve in some areas including: reviewing processes so that 95 per cent of patients that self-present and arrive by ambulance to A&E receive an initial clinical assessment within 15 minutes; making the board assurance framework simpler and clearly linked to the corporate risk register; and improving the computer system in the emergency department used for triaging patients and capturing data.

The trust remains in ‘special measures’ with an overall rating of ‘inadequate’.

Ted Baker, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said: “Our inspectors found a number of improvements had been made at Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust since our last inspection, and staff are to be commended for this.

“We noted a positive change in culture among staff and leaders at the trust. Staff felt that communication from the trust wide team down to ward staff had improved.

“Patients arriving by ambulance or self-presenting to emergency department reception now received a timely initial time to clinical assessment.

“Previous concerns surrounding the number of patients waiting over 52 weeks for their treatment on the admitted and non-admitted referral to treatment pathways had improved. This had reduced from 413 to 182 patients waiting.

“As this was a focused inspection, we looked at the main areas of concern detailed in the warning notice that we had previously issued. We did not inspect all areas so therefore no core service was rated and the October 2016 inspection ratings remain in place.

“The trust still has some way to go on its improvement journey. There were a number of areas where action was still needed, particularly with regard to the continuing the improvement in delays in triaging patients in A&E as well as monitoring concerns surrounding protocols in Skylark ward with the community and mental health service.

“We have made it clear where we expect to see further improvement and the trust knows what it must do to address the issues we have highlighted. We will continue to monitor Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and will return to check on its progress.”