Hospital concerns unfounded - report

The urgent and emergency services department at Solihull was being inspected for the first time

The health regulator has downplayed fears over the quality of services at two Birmingham hospitals.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it had received "information of concern" about surgery and medical services at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, and urgent and emergency services at Solihull Hospital.

But following inspections earlier this year, it has concluded that these concerns were "unfounded".

The regulator looked specifically at how safe, responsive, effective, caring and well-led the services were.

The CQC carried out an unannounced inspection at Heartlands in March after questions were raised about patient care and treatment.

Both surgery and medical services retained their previous overall ratings of "requires improvement".

The urgent and emergency services department at Solihill opened in June 2023. The watchdog's visit in July this year was the first time it had been inspected.

In all areas - safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led - inspectors rated the service as "good".

They gave the same rating to the overall service.

The CQC's deputy director of operations in the Midlands, Charlotte Rudge, said inspectors found "staff who put people first to deliver the best possible care".

"Whilst improvements were needed in some areas, we saw managers putting improvement plans in place, mitigating risks and learning from incidents," she said.

Patients were generally seen quickly by caring and helpful staff, the report said, and while there were frequent staff shortages, steps were being taken to address these.

"We will continue to monitor the trust, including through future inspections, to ensure the standard of care is sustained and any required improvements are made so people can continue to receive safe and appropriate care," said Ms Rudge.

In a statement, University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) said: "Delivering safe and high-quality care, whilst supporting our colleagues to do their very best for our patients, is what matters to us at University Hospitals Birmingham.

"We will use the learning and insights in the CQC's report, and from our ongoing relationship with them, to continue to improve services for local people."

Earlier this year, UHB was told to improve staff training in its emergency departments.

And a review in 2023 found repeated cases of bullying and a toxic environment.

The trust as a whole is rated as "requires improvement".