'Staff should be proud' at hospital A&E improvement

Staff at the Royal Liverpool Hospital "should be proud" after making improvements to its urgent and emergency services, the healthcare watchdog has said.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) upgraded the emergency department from requires improvement to good after an unannounced inspection in December.

While it found the A&E department was still overcrowded due to difficulties discharging patients into the community - a national issue - it said the service was "well-led" and had a "positive culture".

Natalie Hudson, executive managing director of the Royal, said she was particularly pleased the department had improved its rating during an inspection in the middle of a "busy winter".

In January the hospital's emergency department became so crowded the trust declared a critical incident as wait times hit 50 hours.

Ms Hudson said: "Our teams should be incredibly proud of this achievement, which reflects their hard work and commitment to providing the best care possible to our patients in what can be very challenging circumstances."

The positive rating comes just over two years after a group of more than 30 senior medics wrote a letter to trust executives saying they were "embarrassed, ashamed and demoralised" by the standard of care at the Royal's A&E.

Karen Knapton, CQC deputy director of operations in the North West, praised the "high standard of care" demonstrated and said inspectors had seen evidence that safety incidents and complaints were investigated effectively by the trust.

"Staff should be proud of the improvements they've made," she said.

"We'll continue to monitor the trust, including through future inspections, to ensure this good standard of care is sustained and they continue to build on this good care to make further improvements so people can continue to receive safe and appropriate care."

The CQC did note other issues, including problems around infection prevention and control and keeping care records up to date.

Ms Hudson said since December staff had focused on improving infection control procedures.

"We recognise there are still challenges around patient flow through the Emergency Department and admitting patients to wards more quickly," she said.

"We are working with our system partners to make further improvements and speed up the discharge of patients who no longer require hospital care."

The overall rating for NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHLG), and the Royal overall, remains at requires improvement.

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