Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich has been declared compliant with key quality standards by the Care Quality Commission following an unannounced inspection last month.
Following two reports earlier in the year that had raised significant questions about the quality of care on one of the hospital’s wards, the latest report concludes that the hospital now meets tough standards on privacy and dignity and nutrition. In August, senior doctors, nurses and managers, took the decision to divide the troubled stroke ward Newton 4 and create two new wards, one for acute stroke patients (Newton 4) and the other for stroke rehabilitation (now Newton 1).
Inspectors spoke to patients and staff on the two new wards and spent several hours observing patient care and examining patient records. Following the inspection, the CQC will today (Thursday 12th January 2012) publish its report into the hospital. The report confirms the improvements made and captures a wide range of examples of good practice, and positive feedback from patients and staff.
Comments from patients include: “Have been treated well here, can’t better it,” “Nothing could be improved,” and “Honestly, I can not complain about anything.”
The report has been welcomed by the Trust’s Chief Executive John Adler. “We are delighted with this report,” he said. “It is extremely positive throughout and a testimony to dedication of all the staff who have worked so hard to improve the care on the ward and across the Trust.
“We knew that we had a problem with this ward and whilst we were making improvements, we were not making enough progress until we decided to separate the care of acute stroke and stroke rehabilitation patients into two separate wards. We’ve had a lot of complimentary feedback from patients, relatives and staff since then.
“During three inspection visits last year, the CQC visited five of our wards and were mainly concerned about one of them. But many of the improvements we have made have not just been to that ward but across the Trust. I hope that anyone with recent experience of our hospitals would agree they have had the high quality care we have been aiming for. We will continue doing everything we can to keep improving the quality of care in all our wards.”
Please click here to access the full report from the CQC.
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