WE ARE still watching you – that is the message to health trust bosses, after they went only half way to meeting a series of conditions which demand King George and Queen’s hospitals improve.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) imposed eight conditions on the borough’s health trust, calling on it to make improvements to five essential standards of quality and safety.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHR) was registered by CQC in April pending it meeting the conditions – four of which have now been met.
The trust has so far:
l Ensured patients requiring a community care package have an up-to-date care plan and discharge plan.
l Ensured patients are not admitted into beds in treatment rooms, the clinical diagnostic area and the theatres recovery area.
l Provided child protection training to all midwives and provided evidence of training.
l Provided mandatory training to all nursing staff.
But four conditions have not been met – with two given deadline extensions to December 31, 2010 and one condition asking the trust to employ sufficient numbers of staff to meet patient demand at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, only partially met.
The CQC is an independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Colin Hough, regional director for London, said he was encouraged by progress made but will continue to keep a close eye on these areas of care.
He expressed concern management plans for pressure sores among patients had not been properly completed at both hospitals.
Other conditions not met are:
l Ensure all staff who require it have training in resuscitation techniques.
l Ensure all staff who have not received an appraisal within the past 12 months have an appraisal by December 31, 2010.
BHR chief executive John Goulston said: “We are not at all complacent, and will continue efforts to drive up standards and ensure every patient has a good experience of their care.
“Already we are seeing the results of improvements in care, with the number of patients developing pressure sores being halved this year on our elderly care units.”
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