Inspection Team highlights improvements needed at Countess of Chester Hospital

The Care Quality Commission have rated the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as ‘requiring improvement’ following a series of unannounced visits in October and November 2023, but have also highlighted a number of areas where real progress is being made in improving care for patients.

The inspection team focussed on five services – Urgent & Emergency Care, Services for Children and Young People, Medical Wards, Maternity and Medical Care at Ellesmere Port Hospital – highlighting that ‘caring’ was consistently rated as good across all five areas.

They also highlighted significant improvements in maternity care, which was rated ‘requires improvement’ compared to ‘inadequate’ previously. Neonatal unit staff were praised for being 'committed to providing excellent care under difficult circumstances’.

However, the CQC described a range of challenges in Urgent & Emergency Care, Services for Children & Young People and Medical Care – all of which the Trust are working hard to improve.

Jane Tomkinson OBE, Chief Executive Officer at the Trust, thanked the CQC for their report and the inspectors for their work during their visits:

“We are extremely proud that despite the obvious and significant challenges we face, caring has been rated as good in every service the CQC inspected – this is undoubtedly down to the hard work and dedication of our staff and speaks volumes about the fantastic people that work at our Trust,” she said.

“We have a way to go but we know where the challenges are and what we need to do to improve further. We are already starting to provide consistently better care to our patients; all our staff are united in their determination to raise the quality of care and improve the experiences patients and their loved ones have using our services.”

Sue Pemberton the Trust Director of Nursing & Quality and Deputy Chief Executive Officer also acknowledged the journey ahead:

"We know we have much more to do and our teams are actively delivering improvements every week. We are focused and will remain so until our services are consistently back to the standards our patients expect them to be.

“Treating our patients with compassion and kindness is a core value for our staff and it is testament to them that this was recognised by the CQC throughout their inspection. 

"I would also like to pay tribute to the patients and families who are helping us reshape the way we deliver care at the Trust by working with us and actively giving us their feedback.”