Worcestershire Royal Hospital

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

We rated responsive as requires improvement.

This service scored 50 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Person-centred Care during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Providing Information during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

People told us that access to the service was not good enough. People gave examples of those living with disabilities and neurodiversity waiting for long periods of time in the waiting due to the demand on the service. They told us people in the waiting room did not always get pain relief in a timely way. During the inspection we saw people being cared for on the corridor of the department and outside in the back of ambulances.   The service had recognised these issues and were working to overcome them. Ambulance handover delays, crowding within the waiting room and wider department and risk of harm due to corridor care were all listed as risks within the service. In addition, the service had recognised that patients experiencing mental health illness may have reduced quality of care and delay in assessment. A trial of a call bell system in the waiting room was underway at the time of the inspection alerting staff to patients needing assistance. System leaders told us how there was 24-hour mental health liaison in the department and a dedicated trust wide mental health flow team that reviewed the length of wait for all mental health patients within the trust.

The service had recognised poor patient experience which included ambulance handover delays, crowding within the waiting room and wider department and were working to overcome them alongside partner organisations. In addition, the service had recognised patients experiencing mental health illness may have reduced quality of care and delay in assessment and there was a trial of a call bell system in the waiting room at the time of the inspection alerting staff to patient needing assistance. System leaders told us there was 24-hour mental health liaison in the department. The trust had identified the principal reason for the longstanding issue of long waits within the service was a result of lack of bed availability caused by delays in discharging patients following completion of their hospital based treatment. The trust had worked with other services including the local authority ambulance provider and commissioners to provide additional services for those patients who did not require an acute hospital bed with services such as Same Day Emergency care and a frailty service.

There were processes in place to monitor and when possible take action to improve access to the service. Ambulance handover delays, crowding within the waiting room and wider department and risk of harm due to corridor care were all listed as risks within the service. There was a trust wide mental health flow team that reviewed the length of wait for all mental health patients within the trust.  Learning disability nurse support was provided by another service 5 days a week with no provision during evenings and weekends into the hospital. There was a process in place to refer to learning disability nurses for advice and support; There was a process in place to refer to learning disability nurses for advice and support; however, we found this was not always effective. A business case to provide a 7 day service was being written in partnership with the learning disability service to provide a 7 day learning disability liaison service.

We did not look at Equity in experiences and outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.