East Surrey Hospital responds to CQC report

The Trust welcomes this independent scrutiny and recognises that the CQC identified some moderate concerns where improvements need to be made when it carried out its inspection in December. In particular, the CQC inspectors recognised that East Surrey Hospital is making progress in addressing the challenges faced with regard to capacity in the Accident & Emergency department.

We would like to assure patients that the Trust has taken concerted and focused action to address these issues and I would also wish to praise the very caring and dedicated work of many of our staff which is reflected in the positive feedback we get from our patients. 

Michael Wilson, Chief Executive, said: 

"Whilst there were a number of very positive things said by our patients, we recognise that we still have further work to do to ensure the care we provide meets the highest standards in every case.  Following the inspection, we have invested significantly in both time and resource, to make immediate improvements and to plan and implement medium to long term changes to achieve sustainable improvements across all areas of concern. 

"I was also heartened by the many positive comments that patients made to the CQC inspectors. They were also positive about the openness, honesty and transparency of our staff.

"Our priority is to make sure that we are able to sustain this progress and I am confident that we will be able to do this, not least because many of the actions were already in train at the time of the inspection.  I give my absolute commitment to our patients that we will continue to make progress and ensure the right quality of care is always delivered in our hospitals. Complying with the strict standards which the CQC lays down is the number one priority for the Board and everyone at the hospital."’ 

Since the CQC inspection visit the Trust has put in place an action plan and taken robust action to address the issues raised. The Trust is working hard to improve our facilities and are in the middle of a £14 million redevelopment programme, which will deliver more beds and a modernised and enlarged Emergency Department. This will increase capacity by 30% and is in response to long waits being experienced by patients and a poor environment for staff to work in and patients to wait in.