North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust rated

England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated the services provided by North Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust as Requires Improvement following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection. CQC rated the trust as Requires Improvement in providing safe care, being responsive to patients’ needs and being well-led. Deborah Fowler, Healthwatch Enfield Chair said of the report: “The report has a lot of strong positives in it, with 60% of the aspects rated by the CQC scored as ‘Good’. We understand from the CQC that scoring Good in any area is “quite an achievement” and that having some areas for improvement is to be expected. “However, Healthwatch Enfield will of course be looking to see the recommended improvements made in performance as soon as possible and welcomes the fact that NMUH is already working on the areas of relative weakness identified by the CQC.” The inspection, which took place in June, was carried out as part of the CQC’s new approach to hospital inspections. The aim of the new inspections is to get to the heart of patients’ experiences by looking at the quality and safety of the care provided, based on the things that matter to people. The inspections look at whether the services are:

•    safe

•    effective

•    caring

•    responsive to people’s needs

•    well-led.

Each of the eight major services provided at North Middlesex University Hospital: accident and emergency, including the urgent care centre; medical wards, including care of the elderly; surgical wards and theatres; critical care; maternity and family planning; services for children and young people; end of life care and outpatient departments were inspected and rated according to the above criteria.

While the CQC rated the hospital Good overall in caring and providing effective care, it requires improvement overall in aspects of providing safe care, being responsive to patients’ needs and being well-led.

Overall, the hospital was rated as Requires Improvement. The CQC rated it Good overall in the following departments: surgery, critical care, maternity and family planning, and services for children and young people. However, they rated accident and emergency, medical wards, end of life care and outpatients as requiring improvement.