THE trust that runs Whiston and St Helens hospitals has been rated as outstanding in its latest inspection by a health watchdog.

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has become the only acute NHS trust in Cheshire and Merseyside to achieve the title.

It is also only one of nine in the country to be given the status.

A team of inspectors visited the two main hospital sites, Whiston and St Helens, between July 17, 2018 and August 23, 2018.

St Helens Star:

Overall they have been rated outstanding, receiving good ratings in the areas of safety, effectiveness and responsiveness and outstanding for their care and being well-led. The trust has also been rated good for their use of resources.

England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, delivered the rating after the inspectors found that individuals were “treated with dignity and respect”.

He said: “Throughout the inspection we saw that individuals were supported and treated with dignity and respect. 

“There was a strong, visible person centred culture; the staff we met were highly motivated, driven and very proud to work for the Trust.

“Patients were continually positive about the way staff treated them and said that staff go the extra mile with the standard of care exceeding their expectations.”

The CQC results is the latest achievement of the trust, which has also been recognised as providing ‘BEST Patient Environment’ in the NHS for the second year running and earlier this month was ranked the ‘BEST acute Trust in the NHS’ for the third consecutive year. 

Responding to the inspection report, Ann Marr, chief executive of the trust, said: “I’ve always believed we’ve got the best staff in the country and now it’s official.

“Our staff work tirelessly to provide the highest standards of compassionate care to our patients and this inspection report is a reflection of that." 

Richard Fraser, chairman of the trust, added: “We are delighted the CQC has recognised our services and staff in this way, it’s no less than they deserve.

“To achieve an outstanding rating is rare and for the standard of care and quality of leadership to be given the highest possible rating is a testament to all our staff who aspire to provide five star patient care for every patient, every time.”

Inspectors identified some excellent areas of practice, including:

• In surgery at Whiston Hospital they noted that they observed exceptional work in the regional burns unit, where they treated a patient with the largest percentage of burns who was able to survive in the United Kingdom.

• In maternity there were eight new-born and infant physical examination trained midwives across the hospital and community team. There was a ‘helicopter bleep’ holder who was a manager with oversight of the service and who could support staff where needed during weekdays.

• In community services for adults, the sexual health services were the only sexual health service in the North West to have a dedicated health improvement team.

Trained sexual health improvement practitioners worked proactively with the community in public houses, clubs and gyms to identify and treat people at risk of sexually transmitted infections.

n To read the full report go to cqc.org.uk/provider/RBN