Royal Cornwall Hospital Reports Faster Care and Safety Gains After CQC Inspection

Staff at Royal Cornwall Hospitals say patients are already seeing improvements following the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) inspection in April, with shorter ambulance handovers and quicker access to urgent care.

You can read our original coverage of the CQC inspection findings here: CQC Rates Royal Cornwall Hospital as Requires Improvement After April Inspection.

Immediate Action After the Inspection

Dual Chief Nursing Officer for both Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Kim O’Keeffe, said the hospital took “immediate steps” following the CQC’s findings.

Kim said:

“Care Quality Commission inspectors have again recognised the high level of care and compassion provided by our staff but of course we recognise the areas where they said we need to improve. We fully accept the recommendations in the report and took immediate steps to ensure the safety of ambulance handovers and use of treatment escalation spaces, as well as ensuring our teams were fully involved in the changes we have been making.

“Since the visit we have started to see a positive impact from changes our teams have been making across medicine and urgent and emergency care. These include a commitment to maximum 45-minute ambulance handovers, with our aim to be within 15 minutes whenever possible. We have also opened a new medical rapid assessment and treatment unit and introduced a new way of working across our medical wards, so that we can deliver safer and more timely care for those needing emergency admission.

“Whilst we still have challenging days and there is much for us to do, we are seeing the beginning of a transformation in our ability to ensure emergency patients are receiving the right care, in the right place, at the right time. By ensuring patients aren’t in hospital longer than they need to be, we free up beds and reduce our need to use temporary escalation spaces.”

Improvements in Ambulance Handovers and Waiting Times

The trust reported that by July, average ambulance handover times had dropped to under 39 minutes. This marks a reduction of more than 60% compared with April.

Urgent care waiting times also improved:

• Over 82% of patients across emergency, urgent treatment and minor injury units were seen within four hours.

• The proportion of patients spending more than 12 hours in the emergency department reduced by more than half, to just under 7%.

Preparing for Winter Pressures

Royal Cornwall Hospitals Chief Executive, Steve Williamson, praised staff and partners for their efforts but acknowledged challenges remain.

Steve said:

“The last couple of weeks have certainly been more challenging as we go through the peak summer season but overall, we are seeing real shoots of improvement as we start to prepare for winter and the different patient complexity that brings. The work of our own staff and that they are doing together with our NHS, community and voluntary sector partners as we make the shift towards more community-based care, is making a difference. We’re starting to see a change in where our hospitals sit in terms of national performance standards and that means patients in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are getting quicker and safer care; that’s ultimately what we all want for our families, friends and communities.”