Services at St. George's Hospital Stafford downgraded after inspection

It was carried out after serious incidents last year

Author: Trevor ThomasPublished 19th May 2023

This follows a Care Quality Commission inspection on acute adult wards and psychiatric intensive care units.

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provided a comprehensive action plan with evidence addressing how they would respond or had already responded to the concerns raised, following the visit.

Andy Brand, CQC’s deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:

“When we inspected this service, improvements were needed to ensure people were receiving appropriate care in a safe environment, and staff were fully being supported to carry out their roles properly.

“Managers needed to do more to mitigate the impact of staff shortages.

“We also found environmental issues that needed addressing. For example, ligature risk assessments to identify any risk areas hadn’t been completed effectively meaning people could be placed at risk of harm. The trust responded to these issues following the inspection and submitted an action plan detailing how they’d make improvements.

“However, we did also see some positive areas of care. For example, managers debriefed and fully supported staff after any serious incident, including psychological support if needed...

“We will continue to monitor the trust, including through future inspections, to ensure the necessary improvements are made so people can receive safe and appropriate care.”

In response Neil Carr, Chief Executive of Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust says:

"A robust improvement plan was developed at pace to address areas of concern identified by the CQC and a significant amount of positive change has happened in the six months since. This includes rapid work to improve fire safety assessments, recruitment of more substantive employees to reduce our use of temporary staffing, and enhanced ways of working across ward environments."

Hear the latest news from across Staffordshire and Cheshire on the hour, every hour, on 102.6FM, 96.9FM & 96.4FM. You can also listen on DAB, smart speaker, at signal1.co.uk and on the Signal 1 app