Unannounced inspections report positive changes at the Trust
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust is proud to share the findings of two new CQC reports issued today, Wednesday 22 February 2023, which detail positive improvements at both University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.
The CQC visited both hospitals unannounced in early December 2022 to carry out focused inspections of the medical divisions. In its reports, the CQC noted a significant number of positive improvements, including:
- Increased numbers of nurses at both hospitals to help support staff safely care for people – with every ward visited being safely staffed or more, with any potential gaps covered
- Colleagues treat people with compassion and kindness, respect their privacy and dignity, and take account of their individual and cultural needs
- Trust leaders “have the skills and abilities to run their service well.” They understand and manage the priorities and issues the service faces, and are “visible and approachable”
- Ward areas were “clean and tidy” with “standards of cleanliness regularly monitored, and results used to improve infection prevention control (IPC) practices”
- The colleagues interviewed “felt respected, supported and valued” and the Trust “promoted equality and diversity in daily work and provided opportunities for career development”
- Medical records were “comprehensive and could be accessed easily” – with “an overall improvement” both to recordkeeping and medicine management found compared to the last inspection in 2020.
In line with the CQCs policy of not changing ratings positively in between full inspections, the Trust’s overall rating of ‘requires improvement’ remains in place but the improvements noted since 2020 are clear from both reports, which will be soon found on the CQC website.
These visits came at an extremely busy time at the Trust and across the NHS. As Nicola Wise, CQC Deputy Director of Operations in London concludes: “The Trust was experiencing a busy period on the day of our inspection; despite the increased pressures, inspectors noted that morale was positive, and staff reported feeling well supported by visible senior staff.”
Responding to the report, Trust Chief Executive Ben Travis said: “It’s such a boost to all of us here at Lewisham and Greenwich that the CQC were able to witness some of the improvements and high quality practice we deliver during the unannounced inspections.
“The CQC visited both of our acute hospitals on busy Wednesday mornings at the height of the Strep A outbreak in early December, when patient needs were at their most pressured. The improvements noted in the reports reflect the hard work and great patient care that is delivered by my colleagues here at the Trust.
“Though today’s reports reflect the improvement journey that we are on, there remains much to achieve here, and we are committed to working in an agile and responsive way with the CQC and our other partners to continually improve.”