Heatherwood Hospital

The service was not previously inspected or rated as part of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. We rated it them as good because:

• On this occasion we rated surgery as good in the key area of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.
• Staff understood how to protect patients from abuse and the service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.
• The hospital controlled infection risk well. Staff kept themselves, equipment and the premises clean. They used control measures to prevent the spread of infection. The hospital had premised that were no longer fit for purpose and was planning a rebuild of the site. Meanwhile the premises were kept safe for use.
• The hospital followed best practice when prescribing, giving, recording and storing medicines. Patients received the right medication at the right dose at the right time.
• The hospital had enough staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep people safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment.
• The service managed patient safety incidents well. Staff recognised incidents and reported them appropriately. Managers investigated incidents and shared lessons learned with the whole team and the wider service. When things went wrong, staff apologised and gave patients honest information and suitable support in line with the duty of candour.
• The service provided care and treatment based on national guidance and evidence of its effectiveness. Managers checked to make sure staff followed guidance and monitored the effectiveness of care and treatment and used the findings to improve them.
• Staff gave patients enough food and drink to meet their needs and improve their health. The hospital made adjustments for patients’ religious, cultural and other preferences.
• Staff assessed and monitored patients regularly to see if they were in pain. They supported those unable to communicate using suitable assessment tools and gave additional pain relief to ease pain.
• Staff cared for patients with compassion. Feedback from patients confirmed that staff treated them well and with kindness.
• The trust planned and provided services in a way that met the needs of local people and took account of patients’ individual needs. The trust was a leader in the Frimley Integrated Care System and collaborated well with partners.
• The service treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and learned lessons from the results, and shared these with all staff. However, the trust did not always meet its own standard in response timeliness.
• Managers at all levels in the hospital had the right skills and abilities to run a service providing high-quality sustainable care.
• The trust had a vision for what it wanted to achieve and workable plans to turn it into action. This was underpinned by a set of values that staff at the hospital understood.

However:

• Although the trust provided mandatory training in key skills to all staff the trust was not achieving its completion target of 85% in all topics.
• Although there were systems for managers to appraise staff’s work performance not all staff had received an up to date appraisal.