Archived: West Valley Hospital

We have not previously rated this service. We rated it as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• Staff provided good care to patients. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and had access to good information. Services were available five days a week.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
• The service took account of patients’ individual needs and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills.
• Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were generally clear about their roles and accountabilities.
• The service engaged well with patients received overwhelmingly good feedback.

However:

• In the theatre suite, we found logs used in the ordering of controlled drugs that contained gaps in the record. We acknowledge that as soon as we identified this, an action plan was developed and implemented to prevent recurrence.
• The signing in and out sheets for the theatre complex were not always completed and there were gaps in checklists that were not accounted for.
• Some members of staff we spoke with weren’t sure how their development needs would be addressed.
• Leaders were still working to involve staff in auditing and governance processes.
• In outpatients staff were not always clear about their responsibilities.
• Policies were not always reviewed with specified time frames, meaning staff were sometimes working from policies that were out of date.
• In outpatients, we found some equipment servicing that was not always completed annually where this was indicated.
• We observed an incident in the X-ray room when a patient moved and the ‘stop and check’ protocol failed.