Response to CQC Report

The overall rating for the Trust remains ‘Requires Improvement’ but improvements made since its last inspection means that 73% of ratings are now either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. No service or domain was rated by the CQC as ‘inadequate’.

The CQC inspected Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General Hospitals (GRH & CGH) in January 2017 and again in February (unannounced inspection). Of the areas assessed, nine have improved, all from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’ (5 at GRH and 4 at CGH).

End of Life Care provided to patients at both Gloucestershire and Cheltenham General Hospitals was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Inspectors upgraded the service overall from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’.  Meanwhile the outpatients and diagnostics department at Cheltenham General also went from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’.

Deborah Lee, Chief Executive, said: “I am delighted that the CQC’s latest inspection reflects the continuous focus of our staff to deliver increasingly high quality care to all of our patients.

“Importantly this independent review of our services also provides invaluable insights into where we can further improve our services.

“The most pleasing aspect of the inspection report is the consistent references to staff who the inspectors described as committed, caring and compassionate. This is something that I recognise and see every day in my work here. It’s gratifying to me to see this reflected not only by the inspectors but more importantly by our patients.

“The report also highlighted a number of areas for improvement, which we are working hard to address, and we know that we can always learn and improve our services further.

“We have been on a journey over the last 12 months since I took up post. Clearly the winter was a very challenging period for us and this has had an impact on our performance.

“In relation to the four-hour waiting standard at A&E, while this is a wider issue than just our hospitals, we are determined to make this better for patients and we are working closely with our health and care partners to do this.”