KGH is undertaking a significant review of the way it delivers children’s services following an inspection by the CQC
Inspectors visited the hospital on December 6 and December 19, 2022, and found a number of areas of concern relating to staffing levels, how well staff were following hospital procedures, and how robust arrangements were to ensure high levels of patient safety at all times.
They inspected our children’s services, including the children’s ward (Skylark Ward) and the paediatric emergency department.
Those findings are published today (Thursday, April 20) and the Trust’s response to the report is detailed below.
Kettering General Hospital Chief Executive, Deborah Needham, said: “We accept the findings of today’s CQC report and the clear message it contains of the need to significantly improve the way we deliver children and young people’s services.
“I would like to sincerely apologise to any families who feel they have been let down by our services.
“Immediately after the CQC’s inspection in December we launched a comprehensive improvement programme to look at the issues raised and decide how we can resolve them.”
This is now well underway and here are some examples of progress we have already made:
We have:
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Moved our Paediatric Emergency Department – which was under considerable space pressure – to a new larger area next to our adult Emergency Department (* this move was made at the end of January. Our Paediatric ED now occupies an area formerly occupied by our Medical Same Day Emergency Care Unit).
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Addressed core safe staffing levels in children’s services with a new monitoring process which enables staffing levels to be adjusted quickly and appropriately. We have also recruited to our children’s services teams, and new appointments include two new paediatric consultants and a new Head of Nursing.
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Developed a strong focus on key safety processes such as sepsis management with a senior nurse driving improvement. We have delivered additional training and increased the frequency with which we check that staff are following our sepsis procedures. Recent checks have showed we are now achieving 100% for initial sepsis screening across all areas.
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Given more attention to fluid monitoring – with recent checks now showing 100% compliance for fluid and hydration chart completion and initial assessment on Skylark Ward.
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Given additional focus to identifying the deterioration of patients. Recent checks on vital signs assessments show we are now doing them at the right frequency 95% of the time. Vital signs assessments are where staff measure a patient’s temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. They are used to help determine a patient’s condition and can help spot any deterioration in it.
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Improved medicines management – We have reviewed how we managed medicines and, for example, made sure we check trolleys used to store medicines more regularly and robustly to prevent medicines becoming out-of-date - consistently achieving 100% compliance in recent checks.
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Improved safeguarding – The CQC recognised that the Trust’s ‘staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it’ and ‘worked well with other agencies to do so’ – but found we needed to do more to protect children with mental health conditions. We are taking practical measures to ensure our ward is safe for all our patients.
While current checks show high rates of compliance with our procedures the Trust understands the need to embed improvements permanently and it has a new Director of Nursing, Jayne Skippen, and new Medical Director, John Jameson, who together are leading the improvement programme alongside other senior staff.
Jayne said: “The CQC found we have not always embedded improvements to our systems and processes and that is a major concern for us and an area we will continue to focus on.
“We are improving the way we oversee changes and how we assure ourselves that changes have been effective. We want to work with our staff, our patients and their families to develop good communication and a strong culture where safety comes first.
“One improvement we have already made is having a dedicated and experienced member of the Trust’s Patient Safety Team working five-days-a-week on Skylark Ward to improve communication between staff and patients and their families. We hope this will help us resolve any issues of concern at an early stage. If you have any questions about your loved one’s care please speak to a member of our friendly team.
“Our improvement programme is a work in progress. We are fully committed to continuing to work with the CQC, our own teams, and our patients and their families, to ensure we provide safe and compassionate care for children and their families at all times.”
If people have concerns about our children’s services they can also raise them through our Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 01536-493305 or 01536-493306 or by email at kgh-tr.PALS@nhs.net with more information on our website https://www.kgh.nhs.uk/patient-advice-and-liaison-service-pals/