A North East hospital trust has had its rating downgraded from 'Good' to 'Requires Improvement' following an inspection by Care Quality Commission (CQC).
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust, which runs seven healthcare bodies in the region, had previously been rated as providing 'Good' service.
But following surprise inspections and concerns about the quality of care, the CQC downgraded the Trust's rating.
Particular areas of concern were the trust's mental health care - which was described as creating "unmitigated risks", and the maternity care, which did not "consistently provide one-to-one care" for patients in labour.
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In June, the CQC performed unannounced inspections of the services provided by the trust following concerns about the quality of services.
When CQC inspectors deemed that the Trust did not "address, embed, and sustain" improvements to care, the Trust's rating was downgraded.
The Trust is now legally required to improve a range of areas, both trust wide, and in departments in their hospitals.
The South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust is responsible for:
- Durham Diagnostic and Treatment Centre
- Intermediate Care Assessment and Rehabilitation (Houghton Primary Care Centre)
- Palmer Community Hospital
- South Tyneside District Hospital
- St Benedict’s Hospice, Sunderland Eye Infirmary
- Sunderland Royal Hospital
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In its report, the CQC wrote: "We identified concerns in relation to patient safety during the inspection of the trust’s core service and we shared these concerns with the trust’s senior leadership team.
"The trust provided details of the immediate action taken to address these concerns. During our inspection of the trust’s leadership and governance, we carried out a second inspection of the trust’s core services to check whether the trust had addressed, sustained and embedded the improvements required.
"Our return visit found that the trust had not made significant improvement in some of the areas of concern identified in our June inspection which resulted in continued breaches of several regulations. We identified further breaches of regulation during our review of the trust’s well-led."
Sarah Dronsfield, deputy director of operations for the CQC in the North, added: "During this visit, we found the trust had made some improvements but had not addressed all of the areas of concern, which resulted in continued breaches of several regulations. We also identified further breaches of regulation during our review of how well-led the trust is.
"The leadership team have taken our concerns seriously and has shared their improvement plan with us and has provided regular updates on their progress. We will continue to monitor the trust to ensure it’s putting the improvements that are needed in place and will return to check on progress."
Still, there were a number of positives to come out of the report, including a strong set of senior leaders, who "had the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to effectively lead the trust", and a body of staff who were "committed to continually learning and improving services."
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Chief executive Ken Bremner said: "There is no doubt that the past two years has been incredibly tough but there can be no excuses. Our vision is for ‘excellence in all that we do’ and this shows we still have work to do. The CQC has shone a very welcome and helpful light on areas where we need to improve and this has come at an apt time as we look forward to the future.
"Despite all the challenges we face, people will always be treated with empathy and the utmost care and kindness here at [South Tyneside and Sunderland]. I want to thank our amazing staff for that. Given the pressure they continue to work under, it is a testament to them that this care and compassion still shines through every day."
Allison Thompson, who has chaired the trust board since April last year, said that the trust would "absolutely learn the lessons" from the report, and that it was "more determined than ever to make progress".
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