Health inspectors praise King’s Mill Hospital as 'Outstanding'

England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, on behalf of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), has improved the rating of King’s Mill Hospital (KMH) to Outstanding (from Good), with Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (SFHFT) rated as Good overall following visits in January and February.

It was rated the only Outstanding hospital in the East Midlands by the health watchdog.

Richard Mitchell, Chief Executive of the trust said: “I am pleased both sites visited by Inspectors have improved their overall rating which is reward for a huge amount of hard work. We are proud King’s Mill Hospital is now officially an Outstanding site and the only Outstanding hospital in the East Midlands and Newark has improved to Good overall. I hope this gives a boost to colleagues who have been working incredibly hard in unprecedented circumstances this year.”

Additionally, Newark Hospital’s rating has improved from Requires Improvement to Good overall in the report published today (Thursday May 14) following an assessment of services in January and February 2020.

Services at Mansfield Community Hospital were not visited as part of the assessment, with the site remaining Good overall and Outstanding for Care.

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The Trust is rated Outstanding for the Care it provides, while the Critical Care service at KMH was also rated Outstanding. Five of the 15 core services at SFHFT have an Outstanding rating.

In a positive report, many areas have improved since the last inspection in August 2018, including the Trust’s Safe domain improving from Requires Improvement in 2018 to Good in 2020. All fifteen of the SFHFT core services have been rated Good for Safety.

The Trust’s Critical Care service was noted for making significant efforts to meet the individual needs of all their patients. There was particular praise for the process for new mothers to view and bond with their babies whilst admitted in the unit, which was described as exceptional.

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Critical Care was also praised for their “holistic caring for their patients by acknowledging the emotional, social and psychological needs of a patient are just as valid and important as the physical needs.”

Children and Young peoples’ services at KMH was also praised. Particular areas of care noted to be Outstanding include the service employing an administrator to undertake tasks including monitoring training compliance, enrolling colleagues onto training and development, arranging appraisals, sickness and staffing rotas.

CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said: “All the staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust should be proud of the care they are providing to people using their services. Inspectors were particularly impressed by how caring staff were across services which is why we rated this area as Outstanding. Improvements were also made with regards to safety which is now rated as Good overall.

He added: “Staff understood the trust’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. They felt respected, supported and valued, and were focused on the needs of patients receiving care.”