Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust told to improve by inspectors

The NHS trust running New Cross and Cannock Chase hospitals "requires improvement", a health watchdog says.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

It found the trust was "good" in three out of five categories - whether its services were effective, caring and responsive - but must improve how well led and safe services are.

The trust said it was disappointed and challenged 294 "factual inaccuracies" in the report, external.

Of those, the trust said 205 were "accepted, clarified or amended" but this "did not result in any substantive changes across the report's findings".

The trust said it was "considering its options".

The rating was based on an inspection of the trust's three sites - New Cross and West Park hospitals in Wolverhampton and Cannock Chase - across four days in June.

Community services at both hospital sites were rated "good" with some outstanding elements despite their overall rating "requires improvement".

The trust said it was "concerned" inspectors found safety in medical care at New Cross Hospital was "inadequate" and care in the same area "requires improvement".

David Loughton, chief executive of the trust, said: "Further discussions are required before we make a decision over the ratings - but it is not one we agree with.

"We do not believe the CQC's inadequate rating is proportionate based on the facts: the number of staff employed, the number of patient contacts and the number of patient safety incidents."

Among the areas identified as needing improvement, the CQC said the trust must have a risk register tracking issues, with timely reviews and updates, and its recruitment of extra staff in surgery to help transport blood must be completed in a timely manner.

Inspectors said they identified several areas of "outstanding practice" including New Cross Hospital's simulated environment with clinical scenarios to train staff.

The CQC also lauded the trust's Swan Project to comfort bereaved patients coming to the end of their lives and those of their relatives, which included offering them keepsakes such as locks of hair, handprints and photographs.