Health commissioners 'working closely' with Shropshire hospitals
Health commissioners say they are working closely with the trust that runs Shropshire's major hospitals after watchdog identified further concerns in its latest inspection.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Shrewsbury and Telford’s Princess Royal hospitals, was placed into special measures in 2018.
It emerged last week that inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited the hospitals again in June and identified “new and ongoing concerns around patient safety” on the medical wards.
NHS chiefs are now in talks about finding a way forward for the trust that will ensure the safety of patients using its services.
David Evans, joint accountable officer for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups, said the latest inspection findings were "clearly of concern to the CCG".
He said: "We've been having discussions with the trust around it and how we can help them improve.
"One of the challenges is around staffing so the more that the system as a whole can work together to prevent, or put alternatives in, so patients don't have to go into hospital, the better it is for staff because then they can focus on a fewer number of patients in there and hopefully provide a better quality of care. "I know that our teams have been carrying out unannounced visits into the trust as well as part of the process.
Difficult
"We are working really closely with the trust to try and help them through what's a difficult period for them, but more particularly for patients."
A report, due to be discussed by Shropshire CCG's governing body during a meeting tomorrow, says during the CQC's inspection there were "concerns from a safeguarding perspective" in relation to two patients.
It says: "The trust requested that the CCG safeguarding lead attend and review the two cases and provide advice and guidance reduce risk and harm to the patient concerned.
"Following a full review the CCG were able to confirm that concerns raised by the CQC were accurate and further training is required for all staff not only those on the ward concerned. The CCG nurse will support SaTH in amending their training package to ensure the safety of future patients under our care."
SaTH says it has taken the feedback seriously, and although improvements have been made, there is more to be done.
The trust says improvements it has made include recruiting a mental health practitioner to work alongside ward teams; strengthening the process regarding the review of serious incidents and action plans, and developing and embedding a culture of ‘learning from incidents’ through the expansion of its patient safety team.
