Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust needs to make improvements to ensure it protects people’s safety and welfare

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust it must make urgent improvements to comply with the national standards of quality and safety.

This follows an unannounced inspection at Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on 5 and 6 June 2013.

Inspectors assessed the national standards relating to respecting and involving people who use services, meeting nutritional needs and records and found none of these were being met.

CQC has told the trust it must make improvements and inspectors will be returning in the near future to check on whether the necessary changes have been made.

What inspectors found:

CQC visited four wards over two days at the hospital.

Although inspectors were given positive comments about care on the wards, they also found that people were not always provided with a choice of suitable food and drink.

Some people told CQC they were unhappy with the food and staff told inspectors that people who needed pureed food had a limited variety of foods to choose from.

A previous inspection had also found the trust was not complying with the national standard relating to meeting nutritional needs.

CQC has now issued a formal warning to the trust regarding this standard and has told the trust that urgent improvements are required.

During the inspection CQC also saw examples of people’s dignity not being respected and heard inappropriate or insensitive communication between staff and people on two of the wards.

Care plans lacked details of people’s individual personal preferences with regard to their care. While people’s views on what was important to them in terms of their care and treatment were sought, it was not always clear what action had been taken by the trust or what was planned to address any issues.

Additionally, inspectors found that people’s personal records were not always accurate or fully completed.

Andrea Gordon, Deputy Director of Operations (regions) for CQC, said: “Although our inspectors saw some good practice and heard positive comments about the hospital from patients, the failings we found at Chesterfield Royal Hospital are a real concern.

“CQChas been working to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people receiving this service and we have told the trust changes need to be made.

“We have been working closely with our partner agencies with regard to the trust and we will be closely monitoring its progress on the improvements it needs to make.

“Our inspectors will return in the near future and if we find the required progress is not made we won’t hesitate to take further action where necessary.”