A “deterioration in surgery” at a North East health trust is a “concern”, a watchdog has said.
An inspection of County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust noted a number of “never events”; incidents that should not happen if proper measures are in place.
It was given an overall rating of requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission.
The trust said it was working to address criticisms.
Its grading is the same as the organisation’s previous inspection in 2015.
Inspectors conducted unannounced visits at Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham in September and October last year.
Their report, published earlier, said:
- The trust still did not have enough staff with the right qualifications, skills and training and staff numbers were lower than planned in urgent and emergency care
- Within urgent and emergency care, consultant presence did not meet the guidance of 16 hours a day
- Key targets were missed for caring for patients promptly
- Eleven “never events” were reported between May 2016 and May 2017 but two more occurred after September 2017
- Managers investigated incidents quickly and shared lessons learned and changes in practice with staff
Article from BBC news, 1 March 2018