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

More than 90% of the services provided by SFHFT are based at King’s Mill and it is the only Outstanding hospital in the East Midlands.

Additionally, Newark Hospital’s rating has improved from Requires Improvement to Good overall in the report published on Thursday 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.

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 15 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 devised by colleagues within the service for new mothers to view and bond with their babies whilst admitted in the unit, which was described as exceptional.

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. This relieved pressure from ward leaders and matrons to enable them to work clinically and support staff in day to day work.

This is the second time SFHFT has been inspected under the new CQC process, which differs from the previous methodology. Previously all services would be visited on a three-year cycle, whereas in the new process, the CQC visit a reduced number of services more frequently.

Richard Mitchell, chief executive, 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.

“It was fantastic to read about the areas of Outstanding care the inspectors witnessed and this is testament to the colleagues at Sherwood and across the Mid Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Partnership.

“I was pleased to see Newark Hospital was able to showcase the improvements that have been made at the site over the past few years. To get a Good overall rating for Newark and all five domains rated Good is a fantastic achievement and one we are very proud of.

“We know there is further improvement required at Sherwood and we are focussed on making Sherwood an even better place to work and receive care.

“Whilst the CQC report is important validation, we are equally as proud of some of the other recent achievements at Sherwood. Colleagues have rated us the best NHS Acute Trust in the Midlands in the last two NHS staff surveys (2019 and 2018) and the timeliness of our care is some of the best in the NHS, especially for emergency care. We have delivered on our financial position for the last four years, we are working effectively with health and local authority partners across Mid Nottinghamshire and beyond and last year we made the shortlist for the HSJ Trust of the Year.

“We have made excellent progress, but I would be the first to admit there is more we can do to have a truly inclusive culture and to ensure all patients consistently receive the level of care we would want our families to receive.”

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.

“The trust had a clear structure for overseeing quality across services. This gave them greater oversight of any issues and they responded when support was needed. Staff at all levels were clear about their roles and accountabilities and had regular opportunities to meet, discuss and learn.

“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.”

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