Inspectors to assess trust in charge of Lincolnshire’s hospitals

Inspectors will assess the performance of the trust which runs Lincolnshire’s hospitals over the next week.

The Care Quality Commission is set to inspect United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust from Monday, October 10 until Friday, October 14, judging the standard of care at Lincoln County, Boston Pilgrim and Grantham hospitals.

Inspectors from the health watchdog will speak to patients, staff and board members during the assessment, with the report expected to be published early in the new year.

In March 2015, the trust was rated as “requires improvement”, with Lincoln and Boston hospitals in particular singled out by inspectors.

Grantham hospital, which recently made headlines after the trust controversially closed its A&E department overnight, was rated as “good”.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust CEO Jan Sobieraj

Jan Sobieraj, chief executive of the trust, said: “Since the CQC were last here in February, our staff have been working their socks off and have made many improvements.

“We know that we aren’t perfect and we have known challenges but we are moving in the right direction.”

“Amongst many other things some of the improvements we have made are:

• Doubled the number of patients who survive following a cardiac arrest out of hospital
• Made big strides on our digital strategy with e-observations, TheatreMan and EMRAD
• Met the wait for treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks target for 11 months running
• Reduced the incidence of pressure ulcers to 0.5%, compared with the national rate of 4-6%
• Recruited registered nurses from the EU, offered 220 posts to nurses from Philippines, and recruited 160 newly qualified nurses to our hospitals
• Help invest and deliver circa £25 million in capital projects to improve patient environment including dementia ward and a new maternity ward
• JAG accreditation achieved for all ULHT endoscopy units
• Shortlisted and won many regional and national awards

“Our last inspection reports were positive with an overall “requires improvement” rating, with 84% of ratings good or outstanding.

“This year we are aiming to do even better.”