- NHS hospital
Royal Surrey County Hospital
The overall rating for Royal Surrey County Hospital from our June 2020 inspection should have been outstanding. Due to an error in our calculation of the rating, it was showing as good until February 2024 when we corrected it.
Report from 24 April 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings - Services for children & young people
Our view of the service
Assessment was completed between the 3rd and 4th June 2024. The assessment was a combination of onsite observation and offsite interviews. The hospital's children and young people's inpatient services are located on Hascombe Ward. This is a dedicated inpatient service that provides a family-centred care facility with a dedicated multi-disciplinary team facilitating a 24-hour service for children and young people aged between 0 and their 16th birthday. The ward is made up of 23 beds of which there are nine cubicles, a minor treatment room and a well-equipped playroom. There is a co-located paediatric assessment unit which consists of 6 beds and chairs.
The Royal Surrey County Hospital is part of a shared care cancer site for children and teenagers with cancer (POSCU). The POSCU is led by paediatricians and dedicated nurse specialists and is part of the regional cancer network. The Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) cancer unit is located next to Hascombe ward which consists of two cubicles, four SCAT (chemotherapy) chairs and one wellbeing room.
The service also includes a Special Care Baby Unit with 10 special care cots providing intensive medical care for new-borns. It is part of the Neonatal Network for Surrey and Sussex.
A dedicated children's outpatient department provides a service offering a range of general and paediatric specialist clinics supported by a nurse specialist team.
People's experience of this service
During the assessment we observed care, spoke to children and their families and reviewed feedback collected by the organisation on peoples experience of care. We visited all areas children would come to receive care including Hascombe Ward, NICU, the day unit, outpatient department and the emergency department. Children and their families were always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. In all interactions people told us staff understood that they matter and that their experience of how they were treated and supported matters. Their privacy and dignity was respected. Every effort was made to take their wishes into account and respect their choices, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them. Staff had built strong relationships with the families and families told us they felt safe and confident in the staff and with the care they were receiving. Staff made sure people children, and their families were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and decided, in partnership with them, how to respond to any relevant changes in their needs. Young adults felt they had control over their own privacy and the amount of parental involvement in managing their care and support. The majority of areas were visited were suitable for the needs of children and young people. Children had access to play specialists who worked to minimise the distress a child in hospital might experience. Activities available were suitable for all ages of child attending the ward. Toys were available in the outpatient clinics and were provided for both patients and siblings. Specialist toys were available for children with neurodiversity’s. When children with neurodiversity attended the outpatient clinic, reasonable adjustments were made to ensure a positive patient experience. This included appointments at the beginning or end of the clinic and waiting in an alternative area which was calmer. Some clinics were run at a separate, smaller site that provided a quieter location