The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Isle of Wight NHS Trust as “good”, following an inspection that took place in July. The body has also praised the trust for improving a wide range of services.
A full inspection report has been published online by the CQC, which previously rated the Isle of Wight NHS Trust as “requires improvement.”
Ted Baker, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said: “At this inspection of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, we found sustainable improvements have been put in place and embedded. This is a great achievement, the more so as it has taken place against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Throughout the inspection, the team received feedback that was overwhelmingly positive about the staff often going the extra mile to support patients. The care and support received exceeded the patient’s expectations, and this has resulted in the trust’s community services receiving an outstanding rating for being caring.
“The trust has worked incredibly hard to put the improvements needed in place and I am happy to recommend to NHS England and NHS Improvement that the Isle of Wight NHS Trust should be taken out of System Oversight Framework level 4 of the new Recovery Support Programme following this inspection.
“I want to congratulate all of the staff and the leadership at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust for their hard work and dedication during this time. We look forward to returning at a later date to see what further improvements have taken place.”
The Isle of Wight NHS Trust provides integrated acute, community, mental health and ambulance healthcare, and offers 23 core services across its remit.
The Care Quality Commission conducted the latest inspection to specifically answer the question, “Is the trust well led?”
According to the report, the inspection found several examples of excellent practices, including new measures in major emergency response and that closer ties with other emergency services had been formed so that, in an event of a major emergency, alternative transport could be arranged with the support of armed forces, police and the fire brigade.
The trust also received praise for providing at-home care with chemotherapy treatment training provided to paramedics so that, if needed, patients could receive intravenous antibiotics at home if they felt ill. Staff were commended in the report for empowering patients in their care.
The report rated the leadership at the trust as “good” due to the executive team delivering “improvement plans over time” and having “plans for a strategy refresh to progress the quality-of-care delivery for the future.”
New appointments to the trust’s board were highlighted as a reason for the positive change, along with a new chief pharmacist being appointed, and an acting chief nurse for nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals being put in place while recruitment was underway for a permanent replacement.
The inspection looked at previous board meeting minutes and also interviewed members of the board, plus the executive and non-executive directors.
The report highlighted that leadership at the trust “set up a new board committee framework in September 2020 to include committees for Quality and Performance, Finance and Infrastructure, Digital Transformation, People and Organisational Development, Audit, Charitable Funds and Nominations and Remunerations.”
Board meetings were made available to the public and took place on a monthly basis, and were regularly attended by Healthwatch and a patient council.
The board has also set out strategic objectives that will direct the trust until 2025, which are listed below:
- Make the trust a great place to work and receive care;
- Work with partners and the community to improve services;
- Deliver high quality compassionate care;
- Make sure services are clinically and financially sustainable;
- Join up health and care services by working more closely with partners;
- Invest in building and IT that helps teams make a positive difference to the island community.
Following the inspection, the trust will continue to receive support to make improvements.
To read, the full review from the CQC, click here.
