Hospital trust boss says good rating bucks trend

The report had come out against a backdrop of NHS pressures, Prof Hardy said

A hospital trust has "bucked a trend" among other providers by retaining its overall rating of good despite pressures, its boss has said.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating followed a routine inspection of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in September and November 2024.

Prof Andy Hardy, CEO of the trust, which runs two sites, said he was "incredibly proud" of the achievement.

In a CQC report published on Friday, some individual aspects of the trust's provision also kept their good rating, while others dropped from good to requires improvement, with emergency care coming in for some criticism.

"This report is against the backdrop of an incredibly pressured NHS and we also know that many CQC reports and ratings recently have seen hospitals actually reducing, given the pressure the NHS is facing, and we've bucked that trend and I'm very proud," Prof Hardy said.

"We don't always get [things] right and we look to learn from that and that's what these reports are good for, they do highlight some things we can get even better."

The CQC used a new system to come by the overall rating, and while it was based on a review of leadership and culture in particular, it nevertheless represents the overarching, formal assessment at trust level.

However, amid that process, specifics were also ranked, including some services and the individual hospitals within the trust.

Two sites fall under the trust's umbrella - the 110-bed Hospital of St Cross in Rugby, where there is no A&E department, and Coventry's acute University Hospital which has about ten times the number of beds.

The overall rating for each hospital remains good.

As for specific provision, a variety of services were examined. Medical care, children and young people, surgery, and urgent and emergency care services were reviewed at University, with surgery assessed at St Cross.

Rugby's surgery services retained their good rating, as did Coventry's medical care and surgery.

But Coventry's children and young people's care, and urgent and emergency care, were downgraded from good to requires improvement.

Prof Hardy said he did not think reintroducing an A&E department in Rugby would alleviate demand on services

The report found that demand on the emergency service at University was "so high" at times that "despite their best efforts", staff were not always able to provide satisfactory care.

Once admitted, patients received "good care", although the waits meant that "outcomes were not always positive", inspectors concluded.

Prof Hardy said he did not think a second A&E in the region would help relieve the demand.

Earlier this year, Rugby MP Mark Pawsey joined local calls for an emergency department to be returned to the town's hospital.

Prof Hardy said: "Across the whole country - and Coventry and Warwickshire aren't exempt from this - we are seeing increasing demands on the front door of hospitals.

"We're working as a system with our colleagues in primary care, community care ect so people don't just go to hospital.

"That was identified as something we could be better at and we're working on that."

Inspectors also found that services for children & young people required improvement in Coventry.

The report said the service did not have sufficient numbers of suitably qualified and experienced nursing staff and that, at times, shifts were run without safe levels of staffing.