Sunderland Royal Hospital rated as 'requires improvement' by inspectors, but staff praised for kindness and compassion

The hospital, which is part of the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, received the rating by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection in January and February 2020.

Although the Trust was rated overall as ‘good’, concerns were raised about staffing issues and infection control at Sunderland Royal Hospital based on an inspection which took place before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

But staff were praised for their compassion and kindness when dealing with patients, with several departments including medical care and surgical services at the hospital highlighted for their outstanding practice.

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust reassured Sunderland residents that it is providing safe, high quality, compassionate care and said there were learning points it would take away from the report to rectify.

Inspectors rated Sunderland Royal as ‘requires improvement’ for the overall criteria of it being safe and well-led.

Meanwhile it was rated ‘good’ for the criteria of being effective, caring and responsive.

Four core services were rated as ‘requires improvement’ in the inspection report which include; urgent and emergency services; critical care; maternity; and services for children and young people.

The four core services rated as ‘good’ were; medical care; surgery; end of life care; and outpatients.

Among the issues raised in the inspection were staffing levels across a number of core services, including the maternity department – with the report raising concerns over the number of midwives.

The report said: “We were not assured that the service had enough midwives to provide care and treatment in line with national guidance relating to one-to-one care in labour, and the service did not provide evidence of an internal assessment of safe staffing levels.

It added: “The service must ensure there are enough qualified midwives to meet minimum staffing levels and improve compliance with one-to-one care in labour.”

Other issues raised in the report included infection control, with inspectors reporting; ‘some services did not always control infection risk well.’

Specifying the need to take action on this issue in urgent and emergency services, inspectors said: “The service must ensure measures are implemented to control the spread of infections, in line with trust policy.”

However inspectors also said: “Staff kept most areas visibly clean and well organised.

“Surgical services used systems to identify and prevent surgical site infections.”

Equipment maintenance was also raised as a concern, and inspectors said that ‘the maintenance and use of facilities and equipment did not always keep people safe.’

Mental health assessments for children and young people was another area flagged as in need of improvement.

The report said: “The service must ensure that children and young people with a mental health condition are risk assessed for their mental health needs, self-harm or suicide and are cared for in a safe environment that has been appropriately risk assessed.

“The service must ensure that staff are appropriately trained in caring for children and young people with mental health conditions.”

The inspection report praised staff for their kindness and respect when dealing with patients and their families.

The report read: “Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs.

“Staff provided emotional support to patients, families and carers to minimise their distress.

“They understood patients personal, cultural and religious needs.

“Staff supported patients, families and carers to understand their condition and make decisions about their care and treatment."

The hospital was also praised for its care of both patients and staff. Inspectors said: “The service planned and provided care in a way that met the needs of local people and the communities served.

“Staff felt respected, supported and valued.

“The service had an open culture where patients, their families and staff could raise concerns without fear.”

Melanie Johnson, executive director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust said: “Whilst the CQC highlighted many areas of outstanding practice at Sunderland Royal Hospital, we know there are other areas where we need to improve as we strive for excellence across all of our services.

“As always in such a comprehensive inspection, there are some clear learning points and immediate actions that we will take away from the report and work with our staff to rectify as quickly as possible.

“We greatly value all feedback about our services and we will listen and learn from this CQC feedback to ensure we meet our ambition to become rated ‘outstanding’ overall in the future.

“Since becoming one Trust in April last year we have already seen some big improvements to reduce our vacancy rates which are now at their lowest level for some time as more people are choosing to come and be part of our exciting journey to create outstanding services for the future.

“The people of Sunderland can be absolutely reassured that providing safe, high quality, compassionate care underpins everything we do and our staff do a fantastic job, day-in, day-out often in very difficult and pressured circumstances.”

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