Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust still requires improvement, says CQC

The Trust runs hospitals in Maidstone and Pembury

The trust that runs Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals has been told it still requires improvement, following an inspection.

The Care Quality Commission carried out an unannounced inspection in April and May.

The CQC found the trust well led, but "risks were not always identified and recorded for all services".

The Trust said it is proud of its staff's achievements but there is still more to do.

The report also said: "There was a reliance on limited information in some areas to measure the responsiveness, effectiveness, and quality of a service."

Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said: "We found an experienced leadership team who had the capability and integrity to ensure they had oversight of what was happening across the trust and make changes needed to improve people's care.

"We will continue to monitor the trust, including through future inspections, and we look forward to find what future improvements have been put in place."

The CQC said the trust has retained its rating since 2018.

Analysis

By Mark Norman, BBC South East Health Correspondent

Staff and management at the trust will be frustrated with this report and the fact they are STILL rated as "requires improvement".

Why? This is one of the best performing trusts in the country but their CQC rating can't go up and won't go up until the CQC conduct a full inspection.

That hasn't happened since 2017. A partial inspection as reported today won't truly reflect the work staff and managers have done over the last six years.

However, for now it appears they will have to wait for a more accurate representation of the care they provide.

A spokesman for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said: "As this was a focussed rather than a full inspection the overall rating of 'Requires Improvement for the Trust' remains unchanged and is based on the findings of the CQC's last comprehensive inspection in 2017.

"While we are proud of all our achievements in recent years, and want to thank colleagues for their hard work and dedication, we know there is still more to do and we look forward to developing our services and facilities further."

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