Improvements found at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust received a boost as national inspectors improved their quality ratings, but the trust remains in need of improvements.

The Care Quality Commission has rated Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust as Requires Improvement overall following the inspection in February 2019. However, inspectors said that there have been improvements at the trust, with the latest report deeming maternity services as Outstanding and all of its children and young people’s, neonatal and critical care services as Good.

Perhaps the greatest recognition was seen in the awarding of the first ‘outstanding’ rating for a maternity unit in London - at both Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea and St Mary’s hospitals.

The trust provides a broad range of services across three acute hospitals, two specialist hospitals and seven renal centres. The CQC says that the trust must ensure that emergency equipment is checked consistently, cleaning provision should be reviews to prevent the risk of infection and that improvements to the hospital estate should be considered.

Tim Orchard, trust chief executive, said: “I’m delighted that inspectors have recognised the real progress we have made, both in terms of the quality of care we offer as well as the way our organisation is led. We have much more we want and need to do but this is fantastic news for our staff, partners and patients and reflects a huge amount of hard work and commitment.  

“I’m also pleased that inspectors recognised the additional challenges, in terms of the age and state of many of our buildings, that our staff are overcoming in order to provide high quality care. Our teams have to work extra hard to make sure our poor facilities don’t impact too much on our patients but this is not a sustainable situation. The CQC report will help us build our case for a major redevelopment of our estate. In the meantime, we’re focusing as much resource as we can, and working with partners like Imperial Health Charity, on making improvements that will improve the experience for our patients, visitors and staff.

“The outstanding practice highlighted by the CQC acts as a showcase for how we are responding to the changing needs and expectations of our patients and staff. It includes some great examples of how we are integrating care, adopting new technologies and involving patients as partners. I’m really excited for what more we will be able to achieve with and for our patients and local communities – and to our next CQC inspection where we have another opportunity to share more progress.”

Professor Ted Baker, England’s Chief Inspector of Hospital’s, said: “Although Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust remains at an overall rating of Requires Improvement, we have found numerous improvements at the trust, including examples of outstanding care. The trust is now rated Good for being well-led which is a reflection of the progress made by the executive and management team - before it was Requires Improvement.”