Health trust celebrates improved rating

The group which delivers community healthcare in Shropshire has seen an improvement in its rating.

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust has been rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission.

Two years ago it was rated as ‘requires improvement’.

Inspectors scrutinised all of the community provider’s core services during the inspection that ran between January and March this year, and followed that up with a leadership check called a Well Led Review – for which the trust was also rated good.

The CQC rates services by classifying them as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate against five criteria to determine whether services are safe, effective, caring responsive and well-led.

The findings, published today (THU), show significant improvement for Shropcom, which was rated ‘requires improvement’ when its last inspection was published in September 2016.

Highlights include all core services being rated as ‘good’ – including community end of life care, which had been rated as requires improvement overall and ‘inadequate’ for leadership in 2016.

In their feedback, inspectors noted a “real, people-first” approach to leadership at the trust, resulting in a transformation of the trust culture.

They also highlighted a strong and well-received focus on people development and staff wellbeing.

Staff were praised for being friendly, open and honest, and for a commitment to delivering person-centred care.

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust provides a range of community-based health services for adults and children in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and some services to people in surrounding areas. Services range from district nursing and health visiting, to physiotherapy and specialist community clinics.

Jan Ditheridge, chief executive, said: “Our staff deserve this really positive report, which shows the tremendous progress we have made as an organisation.

“It should also give patients and service users real confidence that they are in good hands with Shropcom.

“I am so proud of all our people, who have been able to show the inspectors the strong culture we have within our organisation, the focus we have on patient experience and patient outcomes, and our commitment to continual quality improvement.

“At a time of considerable change in the NHS, we have been able to adapt our services and show the benefit of true system working and co-operation in order to serve the best interests of everyone who uses our services.”

Steve Gregory, director of nursing, added: “We have come a long way in a short period of time.

“There was much about this organisation that was already good back in 2016, but we also welcomed the feedback we received on areas where we needed to improve.

“Much of that work was already under way, and we really upped the pace in the last few years to get us to the position we are in today, where all of our core services are rated as ‘good’.

“Now we will make sure we do not rest on our laurels. We must aim to keep improving.”