The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has risen to “requires improvement” in the latest inspection.
But Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital has still been rated as ‘inadequate’ overall.
Trust chief executive Jan Sobieraj said he was pleased the organisation was ‘moving in the right direction.’
The latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report was published Tuesday and it says there have been improvements.
“The report shows real progress and shows everyone, our patients, staff and stakeholders, that we are clearly moving in the right direction to improved and sustained quality of care,” said Mr Sobieraj.
“I am extremely proud of all our staff, who have worked together and taken on board the challenges we face – there is more work to do, but we are in a better place than we were a year ago, that’s for sure.
“At the time of the inspection we were facing unprecedented winter challenges, particularly at our Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. Our focus now will be to address the problems we know still exist and to look to strengthen all our services as part of our continued 2021 strategy going forward.”
According to the latest report, there has been sustained improvement in staff recruitment, ambulance handover times and a focus on quality of care which saw 72 per cent of the trust’s ratings as ‘good’.
Tracy Pilcher, chief nurse from the trust’s lead commissioning body, Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG, said: “There needs to be a particular focus with regards to improving services at Pilgrim Hospital in order to ensure the delivery of high quality care.
“We continue to support and work collaboratively with the trust, NHS Improvement and NHS England to improve the quality of care provided for the patients of Lincolnshire.
“It is encouraging to note there have been some improvements in care; however we recognise there is still more to do.”
Some areas of good practice within the report included an improved culture of patient safety and treating patients with dignity, respect and kindness.
Staff at the stroke ward at Pilgrim were highlighted for working above and beyond their clinical duties to arrange for a wedding ceremony at the unit.
Staff at the Pilgrim also said they felt valued and committed to delivering the best care they could.
Tracy continued: “The CCG remains committed to work collaboratively with the trust, NHS Improvement and NHS England to support delivery against the quality of improvement plan and would like to reassure everyone that we remain dedicated to providing the highest quality of care.”
