Countess of Chester Hospital given a top 10 ranking for Children & Young Person Services

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised as one of the top-performing Trusts in England for children’s patient experience, ranking 9th out of the 54 organisations that took part in the 2024 Children and Young Person National CQC Survey.

Conducted by Picker on behalf of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), this survey is a key part of the NHS Patient Survey Programme, designed to benchmark Trusts across the country and drive continual improvement in care standards.

The 2024 survey included feedback from families across 98 questions provided valuable insights into the experiences of children, young people, and their parents.

Key areas of strong performance:

The Trust received higher-than-average scores in several key areas:

• Children were able to access hospital food outside of normal mealtimes.
• There was sufficient choice of food available.
• Staff were praised for doing everything they could to help manage pain.
• Parents said that 100% of staff introduced themselves to children they were caring or treating.
• Parents overwhelmingly felt able to ask questions about their child’s care (99%).
• Parents reported that staff listened to them (98%).
• Communication between staff and children was in line with the national average, showing consistent performance in patient engagement.

Areas identified for Improvement:

While proud of the positive results, the Trust is committed to learning and improving in areas where the experience did not meet expectations:

• Parental access to hot drinks and food within the hospital.
• Wi-Fi quality for children using digital devices during their stay.
• Ensuring staff are fully aware of children's medical history and individual needs.

Commitment to improvement:

Sue Pemberton, Director of Nursing and Quality and Deputy Chief Executive Officer said:

"We’re extremely proud that our services have been given such positive feedback by our families – a testament to the dedication and compassion of our Children and Young Person teams. We know we have more to do if we are to continue to improve and we are not complacent - we are listening carefully to what patients and families have told us and are already taking action to improve the areas where we know we need to do better. Our new Women and Children’s Building, which is set to open in a few months’ time, will make a significant difference to the way we provide care with significant improvements to the environment in which we care for our patients and families and the facilities that are available to them.”

The Trust has implemented a comprehensive action plan to address the feedback, with a focus on:

• Enhancing the physical environment, especially in the Children’s area of the Emergency Department.
• The new W&C Building opening later this year will greatly improve the facilities for our patients and their families
• Celebrating the success with our staff

Updates on progress will be shared with the public as part of the Trust’s ongoing commitment to transparency, learning, and delivering the highest standards of care for children, young people, and their families.

About the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

 The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has three hospitals – The Countess of Chester Hospital, Ellesmere Port Hospital and Tarporley War Memorial Hospital – and provides services to 445,000 people a year from West Cheshire, Ellesmere Port, Neston and North Wales.