Statement in response to the final report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry
Wednesday 6th February 2013
QVH has issued the following statement in response to the publication of the final report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry which was published earlier today.
Commenting on the publication of the report, Amanda Parker, QVH Director of Nursing and Quality, said:
“All of us in the NHS have a duty to ensure that our patients are kept safe and treated with dignity at all times. At QVH, providing safe, effective, dignified care is our priority. We have well-established processes for reviewing patient safety, clinical effectiveness and patient experience across all of our services. We constantly review the quality of care that we deliver through clinical audit, national and local surveys and patient feedback.
“Results from the most recent national NHS inpatient survey showed that QVH is one of the best hospitals in the country in the eyes of patients. In addition, we have already introduced the ‘friends and family test’ which will be rolled out across the NHS in April. Results for December showed that over 95% of patients would be extremely likely or likely to recommend QVH.
“On our wards we always maintain a safe ratio of nurses to patients, ensuring that our staff have time to care. We have a particularly high ratio of staff with specialist qualifications, reflecting the specialised nature of much of the care we provide.
“Our board of directors takes an active role in ensuring the highest standards of patient safety and quality. The Director of Nursing and Quality, Medical Director and Chief Executive regularly visit all wards to meet patients and review the standard of care they receive. The full board reviews patient safety and quality data, analysis and feedback every month. When patients feel that their care has not met their expectations, the Director of Nursing and Quality and Chief Executive personally review every complaint. Under the leadership of the medical director, the senior clinical leadership team includes a consultant responsible for clinical safety and another for clinical audit and outcomes, both of whom regularly report to the trust’s most senior managers and clinicians.
“We already lead the way in reporting clinical outcomes for our specialist services and are looking at new ways of making this information even easier for patients to access.
“However, we can never become complacent about patient care. We will be studying the findings of the report in detail to see where there may be opportunities to further improve the high standards of care we offer our patients at QVH.”