A SOUTHAMPTON hospital has been rated ‘good’ in its latest overall review.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) gave University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust the rating after its visit in December 2018 and January 2019.

The CQC checked the quality of four core services – the emergency department, outpatients, medicine and maternity.

The trust is now rated as ‘outstanding’ for being effective, ‘good’ for being caring and well-led and ‘requires improvement’ for being safe and responsive to people’s needs.

Dr Nigel Acheson, pictured, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals for the south, said: “At University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust our inspectors found a strong patient-centred culture with staff committed to keeping their people safe, and encouraging them to be independent.

“Patients’ needs came first and staff worked hard to deliver the best possible care with compassion and respect.

“Inspectors saw many areas of outstanding practice, with care delivered by compassionate and knowledgeable staff.

“Several teams led by example with a continuous focus on quality improvement.

“The trust did face some challenges especially with the ageing estates.

“Some patient environments were showing significant signs of wear and tear – but again staff were doing their utmost to deliver compassionate care.

“We will continue to monitor the trust and our inspectors will return to check on its progress.”

CQC has also published the trust’s Use of Resources (UoR) report, which is based on an assessment undertaken by NHS Improvement.

The trust has been rated as ‘good’ for using its resources productively.

Its combined UoR and Quality rating is now ‘good’.

In outpatients, the review revealed not all premises were “suitable” and some departments “could not cope” with the volume of patients attending clinics.

It also said the service was not consistent in its approach to controlling all infection risks and premises were not always clean.

However, it said that staff in outpatients were caring and “aware of how to provide additional support” for patients living with dementia or with a learning disability.

Inspectors found there were challenges in the emergency care department surrounding the space available to treat patients.

It also said staff were providing effective treatment.

There were some delays in the triage of patients. Staff did manage to ensure vulnerable people and those who presented with acute mental health needs were “treated in a safe environment”.

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