Homerton Hospital retains ‘Good’ rating from health watchdog

Homerton Hospital. Photograph: Hackney Council

Homerton Hospital has maintained its ‘Good’ rating from the country’s leading health regulator.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors spent several days at the hospital earlier this year, and upheld the overall rating it awarded in 2014, as well as grading the A&E department and Medical Services as ‘Outstanding’.

It follows last year’s ‘Good’ rating for the hospital’s community services.

The hospital’s chief executive Tracey Fletcher said: “We are delighted that our Emergency Department, including A&E, has retained its ‘Outstanding’ status and that our Medical Services have also been rated ‘Outstanding’ – both departments receiving particular praise for being responsive and well-led.

“We congratulate all staff who have contributed to these excellent scores.

“The CQC have also made special mention of the excellent work of our bariatric surgery service in training doctors, and the work of our midwives in developing safeguarding practices and support for vulnerable women.”

The hospital was rated ‘Good’ in all key areas – safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Professor Ted Baker, England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals said: “Staff and the management team at Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have consistently provided a good standard of care to patients.

“I was pleased to see some areas where the quality of care and the evident innovation was outstanding, notably in surgery’s bariatric service.”

But Fletcher added: “However, the inspectors have highlighted some issues we need to focus on. We have been working to resolve these issues over the past four months and we would welcome a re-visit at any time.”

The inspectors’ report upgraded the maternity department to a ‘Good’ rating after previous visits found it required improvement, but points out a number of areas that need addressing in the ‘Well-led’ category.

These include ensuring “sufficient numbers of appropriately skilled doctors and midwives are deployed to meet the needs of the service” and improving both hand hygiene and the “reliability of systems for checking all emergency equipment”.

CQC inspections in 2015 and 2016 found the department required improvement following a high number of baby deaths.

The Citizen revealed last month that one in ten nursing roles at the Homerton are vacant, with a hospital spokesperson warning that recruits from Europe have “dried up” in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The CQC’s full inspection report can be found at cqc.org.uk