More timely access to care after work to reduce delays since Care Quality Commission inspection

Staff at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals have worked hard to improve care and safety since the Care Quality Commission inspection of medicine and urgent and emergency care services in April, bringing positive changes for patients.

Dual Chief Nursing Officer for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Kim O’Keeffe said:

“Care Quality Commission inspectors have again recognised the high level of care and compassion provided by our staff but of course we recognise the areas where they said we need to improve. We fully accept the recommendations in the report and took immediate steps to ensure the safety of ambulance handovers and use of treatment escalation spaces, as well as ensuring our teams were fully involved in the changes we have been making.

“Since the visit we have started to see a positive impact from changes our teams have been making across medicine and urgent and emergency care. These include a commitment to maximum 45-minute ambulance handovers, with our aim to be within 15 minutes whenever possible. We have also opened a new medical rapid assessment and treatment unit and introduced a new way of working across our medical wards, so that we can delivery safer and more timely care for those needing emergency admission.

“Whilst we still have challenging days and there is much for us to do, we are seeing the beginning of a transformation in our ability to ensure emergency patients are receiving the right care, in the right place, at the right time. By ensuring patients aren’t in hospital longer than they need to be, we free up beds and reduce our need to use temporary escalation spaces.”

The average ambulance handover at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in July was under 39 minutes. This is a major improvement, reducing ambulance handover times by over 60% compared to April.

There was also a corresponding improvement in urgent care waiting times. In July over 82% of patients across all urgent care services (emergency department, urgent treatment centre, and minor injury units) were seen within 4-hours, and the proportion of patients spending more than 12 hours in the emergency department reduced by over half to just under 7%.

Royal Cornwall Hospitals Chief Executive, Steve Williamson added:

“The last couple of weeks have certainly been more challenging as we go through the peak summer season but overall, we are seeing real shoots of improvement as we start to prepare for winter and the different patient complexity that brings. The work of our own staff and that they are doing together with our NHS, community and voluntary sector partners as we make the shift towards more community-based care, is making a difference. We’re starting to see a change in where our hospitals sit in terms of national performance standards and that means patients in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are getting quicker and safer care; that’s ultimately what we all want for our families, friends and communities.”