Harlow Renal Unit

Updated 5 April 2016

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust provides secondary care services for a population of around 600,000 in East and North Hertfordshire as well as parts of South Bedfordshire and tertiary cancer services for a population of approximately 2,000,000 people in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, north-west London and parts of the Thames Valley. There are approximately 696 beds at the Lister Hospital Site and at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre there are 45 beds and a 12 bedded hospice. The trust has a turnover of approximately £375m and 5,290 staff are employed by the trust, representing around 4,540 whole time equivalent posts.

The area served by the trust for acute hospital care covers a population of around 600,000 people and includes south, east and north Hertfordshire, as well as parts of Bedfordshire.

The trust’s main catchment is a mixture of urban and rural areas in close proximity to London. The

population is generally healthy and affluent compared to England averages, although there are some pockets of deprivation most notably in Stevenage, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City and Cheshunt. Over the past ten years, rates of death from all causes, early deaths from cancer and early deaths from heart disease and stroke have all improved and are generally similar to, or better than, the England average.

The trust concluded its “Our Changing Hospital” programme in October 2014, having invested £150m to enable the consolidation of inpatient and complex services on the Lister Hospital site, delivering a reduction from two to one District General Hospitals. Additional £30m investment enabled the development of the New QEII, to provide outpatient, diagnostic and antenatal services and a 24/7 urgent care centre; which opened in June 2015.

Hertford County Hospital provides outpatient and diagnostic services. The Mount Vernon Cancer Centre provides tertiary radiotherapy and local chemotherapy services. The trust owns the freehold for each of the Lister, QEII and Hertford County. The cancer centre operates out of facilities leased from Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The trust is also a sub-regional service in renal medicine and urology and a provider of children’s community services.

The trust has five clinical divisions: Medical, Surgical, Cancer, Women’s and Children’s and Clinical Support Services, each led by Divisional Director and Divisional Chair. These are supported by a corporate infrastructure. Therapy Services, Outpatient Pharmacy Services and Pathology Services are provided by different organisations.

The trust is not a foundation trust.

From information provided by the trust, the total number of beds across all trust sites (excluding Michael Sobel House, the trust’s hospice) was 741 with:

• 629 General and acute beds

• 48 maternity beds (excluding assessment and delivery)

• 19 Critical care beds

• 45 Cancer centre

The trust employees 5,340 staff with:

• 760 Medical staff

• 1806 Nursing staff

• 2,779 Other staff.

The trust’s revenue was £376 million with a deficit of £ 3 million.

Updated 5 April 2016

We carried out an announced inspection visit of Harlow Renal Unit on 21 October 2015.

This was part of a comprehensive inspection.

This service was inspected but not rated.

Our key findings were as follows:

Staff reported and learnt from incidents. The unit was clean and infection prevention measures used kept patients safe. There were appropriate arrangements to assess and respond to patients at risk. Nurse staffing levels and nurse to patient ratios were closely managed and shortages responded to effectively to ensure safe care.

Feedback and concerns from patients were responded to and measures taken to improve the service. A strategy had been developed for the service to ensure the needs of the local population were met. There was good multi-disciplinary team working. A cohesive team at local and trust wide level worked to facilitate shared learning and effective use of resources.

Professor Sir Mike Richards

Chief Inspector of Hospitals

Updated 5 April 2016

The service was inspected but not rated.

Staff reported and learnt from incidents. The unit was clean and infection prevention measures used kept patients safe. There were appropriate arrangements to assess and respond to patients at risk. Nurse staffing levels and nurse to patient ratios were closely managed and shortages responded to effectively to ensure safe care.

Feedback and concerns from patients were responded to and measures taken to improve the service. A strategy had been developed for the service to ensure the needs of the local population were met. There was good multi-disciplinary team working. A cohesive team at local and trust wide level worked to facilitate shared learning and effective use of resources.