Barts Health NHS Trust taken out of special measures

We are still in special measures for finance reasons and remain rated “requires improvement” for quality. We are disappointed that Newham Hospital’s maternity services were rated inadequate at the time of this inspection, but encouraged that the CQC has said they have seen evidence of improvement following the immediate action we took. Further CQC reports are expected next month on inspections into three specific services, including maternity services at Newham. Nevertheless, in the report the CQC noted improvements across the board at The Royal London, Whipps Cross and Newham hospitals, together with improvements in the leadership, governance and culture of the Trust as a whole. The report rates us as “good” in three of the five domains that matter to the CQC – being Caring, Effective, and Well-Led. 

Highlights include:

• more than 35 examples of outstanding practice across the three hospitals inspected
• staff speaking of visible and engaging leaders at all levels, and an improved organisational culture
• better oversight of care quality across core services, significant investment in IT systems, improved data quality, and better engagement with patients

The findings mean that two-thirds of all the core service areas ratings at Barts Health are now officially rated as good or outstanding. This includes the group’s specialist heart and cancer services at St Bartholomew’s hospital, which were rated good in all areas, with outstanding leadership, in a previous inspection. 

These results are a tribute to the skill and dedication of our 17,000 hard-working, talented staff and the support we have had from our regulators and our partners.

We will continue to address areas where there is further work to be done, and now look forward to charting our own course to becoming a high-performing group of hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to the people of east London and beyond.

There is lots to digest in the report – pleased find attached individual summaries for each hospital, and we will be publishing a link to the full report and the key points on our website tomorrow – I look forward to speaking to you about it in more detail over the coming weeks. 

Thank you for your support in helping us to reach his point, and we are very much looking forward to working together with our partners on the next phase of our journey."

Alwen Williams
Chief Executive
Barts Health NHS Trust

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