Royal Papworth becomes first hospital to be rated 'outstanding' across all areas by CQC
The new Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge has become the first hospital to be rated outstanding across all areas by the Care Quality Commission.
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The hospital was inspected in June and July this year - just a month after it had welcomed its first patients to its new site on the city's biomedical campus.
Inspectors gave the hospital top marks for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
It's the first time a hospital has ever achieved it.
England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said inspectors were blown away by the "exemplary care" being offered at the hospital.
“We were very impressed by the high-quality care and treatment offered at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust," he said.
“Patients received exemplary care from committed and qualified staff.
"A caring culture ran through the trust. We saw warm and generous interactions between people and staff, boosting patient wellbeing. Underpinning this was a leadership team that prioritised putting people at the heart of their care by supporting frontline staff with the right priorities."
Professor Baker added that there were still some aspects the hospital could improve on in the future, but these were few and far between.
“There were a few areas where the trust could improve. These included increasing staffing and bed capacity in the critical care unit and collecting patient feedback that identified responses specific to the diagnostic imaging department," he said.
“An Outstanding rating is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment; I congratulate everyone involved. We continue to monitor the trust and we will return to carry out further inspections to check on progress with improvements.”
Before its move in May of this year, Papworth was based in the village of Papworth Everard outside Cambridge.
It's a leading heart and lung hospital and was home to the first successful heart transplant in the UK in 1979.
The new hospital was officially opened by the Queen in July.