Stourside Hospital

We rated services at Stourside Hospital as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff mostly had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service-controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff provided good care and treatment, gave patients enough to eat and drink, and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Key services were available seven days a week.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback.
• Leaders supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

However:

• The service may wish to consider undertaking more comprehensive audits of the safer surgery checklist.
• The service should develop systems to understand wait times for surgical procedures so that it is clear if waits are attributable to the service responsiveness or NHS pathways.
• The service may wish to consider undertaking more comprehensive audits patients consent records.
• The service should ensure patients mental capacity to consent to their operation is appropriately assessed.
• The service should ensure clinical governance meetings follow a set agenda and robustly include all aspects of service delivery.