Sheffield health care is best in Yorkshire

In a report released yesterday, inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) concluded that Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was ‘good’ overall.

Following the rating, the trust’s 16,000 staff and volunteers have been celebrating their status, which puts them in the top 30 per cent nationally.

The trust runs Royal Hallamshire, Northern General and Weston Park hospitals, as well as Charles Clifford Dental Hospital and the Jessop Wing Maternity Hospital.

Trust Chief Executive Sir Andrew Cash said: “All our staff and volunteers work so hard to do their best for patients and so I am pleased that this has been reflected in the Good rating. I am very proud and privileged to work with such a fantastic team of people.

“We have over 16,000 people working and volunteering across the Trust and every one of them contributes to providing high quality care, no matter what role they have or at what level.

“The report highlights some innovative and outstanding care and that comes from our staff being committed to continuous improvement in all that we do.

“The report does highlight some areas where we can improve and indeed many of these are already being actioned.”

Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Northern General and Charles Clifford were rated good, but Weston Park Hospital was deemed to require improvement, although the care provided at the hospital was rated outstanding.

The commission found there was effective leadership of the board and across the organisation and that the trust has a clear vision and corporate strategy, which is known and understood by staff.

It found that there are appropriate systems and procedures in place to keep patients safe, including safeguarding and infection control.

But inspectors identified some areas where the trust must improve, including processes in the Northern General Hospital’s accident and emergency department to ensure patients do not wait longer than the recommended standard for assessment and treatment.

The CQC said critical care, maternity and gynaecology, community health services, outpatients and community dental services as ‘outstanding.’

The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: “We found the care at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to be of a good standard.

“There was a clear vision and strategy for delivering the highest standards of patient care with quality and safety as a key focus.

“Inspectors noted that there was a culture of innovation and improvement, evident throughout all levels of the organisation.

“There was a well-established culture of continuous improvement at the trust and they had good systems for supporting small scale service improvements. We found very positive examples of patient care.

“On the intensive care units, an electronic patient information system was in use, which ensured effective care was delivered and it was fully integrated and provided real-time information across teams and services.

“Within midwifery, the one to one team and specialist midwife clinics gave greater assurance that high risk women continued to have a choice on the care they received in pregnancy.”

Tony Pedder, chairman of the trust, said he was proud of the rating.

He said: “We really do have 16,000 reasons why we have achieved such a positive rating from the Care Quality Commission.

“Every one of our staff and volunteers make our organisation what it is and we are very fortunate to have some of the best people in the NHS working in our hospitals and community services.

“Proud, caring, compassionate and prepared to go the extra mile are just some of the words used by the CQC about our teams and the care they give to patients every single day.”