Hospital's surgery service rating upgraded

The CQC said surgery services at Derriford Hospital had been rated as good

Surgery services at a hospital in south-west England have been upgraded following an inspection.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the service provided at Derriford Hospital, run by University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, had gone from being rated as "requiring improvement" to "good".

It said during a visit in April, it found improvements had resulted in "positive changes" since its previous inspection in March 2024 - including staff feeling listened to.

While inspectors said some improvements were still needed, hospital bosses said they were "super proud" with the finding.

'Duty of candour'

A report published from the CQC inspection said services had improved and patients were kept safe and protected from avoidable harm.

It said inspectors found people could access the service and were supported with interpreters.

They also found staff spoke positively about leaders, who understood the challenges of their roles and supported them effectively to help provide the best care to people.

Other findings included staff having the right skills and experience to meet people's needs, and working with the local community to deliver "joined-up care".

Inspectors also found staff "understood duty of candour and were open and honest with people when things went wrong".

Areas that inspectors found still needed work included pharmacy support for the service, which it said varied compared to other areas of the hospital.

The CQC added it was concerned with "privacy issues" surrounding the orthopaedic operating theatres as the doors enabled people to see patients being taken in for surgery.

It noted the trust had looked to address this issue following feedback by installing manual push buttons to open and close the doors as required.

'Positive energy'

Catherine Campbell, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said the trust should be pleased with the progress made in its surgery services.

"When we inspected Derriford Hospital's surgery services we found staff and leaders had been committed to using the findings from our last inspection to make improvements and this had resulted in positive changes being made across the board," Ms Campbell added.

Jo Beer, the trust's chief operating officer, said staff at the hospital had been given a huge boost by the inspection's findings and patients were feeling the benefit of the improvements.

"We are super proud of this CQC report," Ms Beer said. "It's created a huge amount of positive energy across the organisation, in particular surgery."