Ely’s Princess of Wales Hospital is given clean bill of health by inspectors

The NHS trust which manages Ely’s Princess of Wales Hospital has been given a clean bill of health by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Inspectors found patients of Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust who were using the minor injuries, dentistry and palliative care units at the Princess of Wales were consistently treated with compassion, dignity and respect.

Inspectors also noted that patients were positive about the experience of receiving care from our services and awarded the trust a ‘good’ overall rating.

Matthew Winn, chief executive of the trust said: “The trust board is delighted with the findings of the Care Quality Commission’s recent comprehensive inspection.

“Overall, the CQC assessed our services as good and found a wide range of evidence that showed how our dedicated staff consistency provided high quality care to patients.”

But inspectors also found some examples of weakness and urged the trust to improve in three areas, including improving its recruitment process and staffing levels and improvements to its medicine monitoring.

The trust was also asked to improve and monitor its care after death.

Staffing has been a particular problem at the Princess of Wales where, in January last year, the Welney Ward was closed for several months because of difficulty in attracting staff.

Mandy Renton, chief nurse at the trust said: “There are three areas where the CQC has identified actions that require improvement. Action plans are already under way to address these and will be audited for compliance in the coming weeks and months.”

As well as the Princess of Wales, the community services trust also manages the Brookfields, Doddington and North Cambridgeshire Hospitals.