'˜Progress' made after CQC report, says United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust

United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT) was given a rating of ‘requires improvement’ back in July by the Care Quality Commission.

Bosses from ULHT gave an update on the trust’s progress to members of the Health Scrutiny Panel at Lincolnshire County Council on Wednesday, September 12.

In particular, the trust said it is working on improving its safety and governance.

It added that it wanted to make progress with emergency care and children’s services.

An improvement plan was submitted to the CQC by the trust at the end of July.

Jan Sobieraj, chief executive at ULHT, said he was pleased with the work so far but added there is more to be done.

“We are not there yet and we are not satisfied,” he said.

“But overall what we are doing demonstrates that plans are working.”

Chairman of the Health Scrutiny Panel for Lincolnshire, Coun Carl Macey, said the trust’s ambitions were “commendable”.

However, he added that he would like to see “more evidence” of improvements at ULHT.

The trust received the rating following inspections from the CQC between February and April.

ULHT remained in special measures and Mr Sobieraj said the CQC’s decision was not unexpected.

Notable points for each hospital from the CQC report included:

Lincoln County Hospital – Overall ‘requires improvement’

Outstanding practice was found including the emergency department at Lincoln County Hospital which had developed a quality improvement project which helped staff identify and diagnose aortic dissections and ensured patients received appropriate care and treatment.

The trust was told however that it must ensure emergency department patients were triaged within 15 minutes and that ambulances are handed over within 30 minutes.

It must ensure patients run from admittance to discharge within four hours.

Boston Pilgrim Hospital – Overall ‘inadequate’

Particular praise was given to medical care, with the stroke ward and mental health provision coming under the spotlight. Outpatients were also praised, with a project to sew bras for cancer patients highlighted.

Pilgrim saw a number of improvements listed for outpatients including recording outcomes, mandatory training and ensuring data is used in a way to improve services

Urgent and Emergency Care also saw a number of improvements needed including ensuring an effective escalation processes were in place for the front door of emergency departments

Grantham – Overall rated as ‘good’

The trust was told to improve in medical care where it needed to increase compliance and review systems for identifying expired medicines.

It was also told to improve in surgery where it needed to ensure equipment is serviced in a timely manner, and ensure each page of a patient’s medical records were signed and dated as well as make sure infection guidelines were up to date on the surgical ward.

Louth – Overall rated as ‘good’

Improvements were suggested to, like Grantham, ensure equipment was serviced as soon as possible and to make sure the medicine cupboards remained locked at all times.