Bucks healthcare chief hails 'tireless' and 'compassionate' staff after recent CQC inspection at Stoke Mandeville Hospital

The healthcare chief for Bucks has hailed the work of NHS staff in the county after recent unannounced inspections.
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Neil Macdonald, chief executive of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust praised his staff after recent reviews of Stoke Mandeville and High Wycombe Hospital.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) once again gave the trust a ‘good’ rating.

In the ‘caring’ category the healthcare organisation is rated as ‘outstanding’.

Stoke Mandeville HospitalStoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital

Last week, the results of the inspection which was carried out in February were revealed, analysis was completed looking at the medical and surgical services at the institutions.

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Bucks Healthcare Trust retains 'Good' rating after inspection by NHS watchdog

Inspectors did not check out community services or other acute services including critical care, end of life care, outpatients, maternity, community health services of the National Spinal Injuries Centre.

When most recently analysed most of these sections of Bucks healthcare held a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ rating.

Chief executive Macdonald said: “We are pleased with the outcome of the inspection because there is not one person within the trust who

does not want to do the right thing for our patients and has not worked tirelessly to try and deliver that in exceptional circumstances.

“The last two years have undoubtedly been the most challenging in the history of the NHS and at the time of the inspection, we had a high rate of staff absence due to COVID-19 and were still looking after a significant number of patients with COVID-19 due to the virulent Omicron variant.

"Despite these challenges my colleagues continued to treat patients with compassion and kindness, respecting their privacy and dignity and taking account of their individual needs.

"This was recognised by the CQC who upheld our rating of Outstanding for caring.

“I am proud that the CQC acknowledged that, despite our workforce challenges, staffing levels were carefully monitored to ensure that we could continue to

deliver safe care.

"They also recognised that the Trust is committed to continually looking at ways to improve services, engaging with the local community and patients to ensure their voice is heard.

“The purpose of CQC is to, on behalf of the public, hold us to account for the quality of our services and to help us to identify areas where we need to learn and make further improvements.

"Whilst it is disappointing that our overall rating for safety moved from ‘Good’ to ‘Requires Improvement’, I would like to reassure the public that there were no immediate safety concerns raised by the CQC in this report and in fact the report stated that “staff understood how to protect patients from abuse and managed safety well.”

"We will approach the recommendations made by the CQC, particularly regarding safety, with the same relentless dedication and commitment to our patients and colleagues that we have demonstrated over the last two years.

"This will include renewed focus on some of things which, understandably, took a back seat during the pandemic such as annual appraisals, training and professional development.

“There is clearly more we need to do to ensure we have consistent compliance with infection, prevention and control measures and medicine management

whilst continuing to progress our plans to upgrade our ageing estate.

“I want to assure our patients that our top priority will always be to provide the very best care we can for everyone that needs us – whether that is in one of our hospitals or in their homes.

"I am privileged to lead a dedicated, highly-skilled and compassionate workforce which is equally committed to achieving this.”

The Bucks Herald published the CQC’s findings on Friday, the trust advises that work is already underway to improve the facilities found wanting in this latest review.