Health commissioners hope issues can now be resolved after inspection at Shropshire's hospitals
Health commissioners say they hope the issues at the trust running Shropshire's main hospitals can now be resolved following the findings of a watchdog.
The Care Quality Commission has taken ‘urgent action’ against Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) following inspections of its maternity and emergency departments earlier this year.
The maternity unit inspection led to concerns over the trust’s reduced foetal movements guidelines, while the inspection of the urgent and emergency units led to concerns over the treatment and recognition of sepsis.
The trust must now report weekly to the CQC detailing the actions it is taking to address the concerns.
Bosses at Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) have welcomed the CQC's initial findings.
In a joint statement, Dr Julian Povey, chairman of Shropshire CCG, and Dr Jo Leahy, chairwoman of Telford & Wrekin CCG, said: “There is a process that is followed for the issuing of the CQC's findings and, as part of that procedure, the CQC has a shared a press release with the CCGs on its enforcement action against the trust.
"The CQC press release refers to safety issues in both the maternity and emergency departments, their findings are concerning and we expect to receive the full report from the CQC in due course when it is made public.
“After 18 months of raising concerns about patient safety at SaTH, we welcome these initial findings from the CQC in the hope that the issues can now be resolved and we can work towards assurances from the trust about the safety of its services.”
Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, which are both run by the trust, were visited by inspectors between August 21 and 31.
SaTH said that it had already taken steps to address concerns and that it took the safety of patients “very seriously”.
The CQC said it had imposed urgent conditions on the trust’s registration to safeguard patients.
The trust will continue to be monitored closely.
The full findings of the CQC’s inspections are due to be published in the coming weeks.
The trust is currently rated as “requires improvement” overall.
