Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading ''needs improvements"

  • Meridian
Royal Berkshire Hospital Credit: ITV Meridian

The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, has published his first report on the quality of care provided by the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading and has concluded it "requires improvement".

It follows an inspection carried out in March under the new inspection regime introduced by the Care Quality Commission.

Inspectors found that:

  • The midwifery-led maternity unit was understaffed for the number of beds in the unit, and that this had the potential to have a serious impact on women giving birth there. CQC told the trust immediate action was required here - and the trust took action to close two beds to improve safety.

  • Medical records were very fragmented within the hospital, and were not always available when needed. This created a risk that patients would not receive safe and effective care and treatment.=

  • The leadership of the trust had been through some significant changes in the preceding months of the inspection as the chief executive left in December 2013.This had resulted in front line staff not feeling fully informed about the recent changes and unclear on the overall vision for the trust.

  • Feedback from staff highlighted that many staff members did not know who the members of their executive team were and there was a consistent theme that executives were not visible enough. At the time of the inspection the executive team comprised of six permanent executive positions and five interim executives. The significant number of interim appointments presented challenges for consistent leadership.

The Care Quality Commission also identified other areas where the trust needed to make improvements, including:

  • Making sure that enough staff are on duty at all times in all parts of the hospital to deliver safe and effective care

  • Improving care planning, and the creation of robust procedures for dealing with emergencies.

  • Improving staff knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

  • Inspectors also found a number of areas where the trust was providing compassionate care: