• Hospital
  • NHS hospital

Whiston Hospital

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Warrington Road, Prescot, Merseyside, L35 5DR (0151) 426 1600

Provided and run by:
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Report from 27 February 2024 assessment

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Effective

Good

12 December 2024

We found that the service had good multidisciplinary working to facilitate safe and early discharges and provide specialist care and treatment in the department. However, we found that several clinical pathways were past their review date and that compliance with maintaining fluid restriction was inconsistent.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Assessing needs

Score: 3

We did not look at Assessing needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

Delivering evidence-based care and treatment

Score: 2

Patients told us that they were not always offered food, drink, and pain relief in a timely manner .

However, patients felt they were assessed by skilled staff who arranged the appropriate treatment and gave a full explanation of their condition and care.

Leaders told us that there were pathways in place that were evidence based and available to staff. They told us that pathways go through the clinical effectiveness council and quality committee.

The Trust had a palliative care nurse specialist in ED who had worked effectively to ensure patients who were end of life were transferred to their preferred place of death.

Leaders told us that they had increased the catering service to include hot food and visits 6 times per day to ensure patients with long waits had their nutrition needs met however, this was not reflected in what people who used the service told us.

The provider’s systems did not ensure that clinical pathways were up to date with national guidance and standards, with half of those we reviewed past their review date.

The department took part in multiple national and local clinical audits. There were processes in place to monitor audit results to make improvements.

We reviewed audit compliance action plans for the department, and these showed what actions were being taken to improve compliance and the monthly rates for the likes of falls, nutrition and hydration, hand hygiene and the deteriorating patient.

Audit compliance for patients requiring fluid restriction were inconsistent, fluctuating from 100% to 33% from May 2023 to February 2024.

How staff, teams and services work together

Score: 3

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

Supporting people to live healthier lives

Score: 3

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

Monitoring and improving outcomes

Score: 3

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.