Ellesmere Port Hospital requires improvement in several areas, according to inspectors.

The hospital was seen by CQC inspectors between October 17-19, 2023, with the findings published today (Wednesday, February 14), assessing patients' medical care including care for older people.

It was part of the inspection team's overall report at the Countess of Chester Hospital Trust, which covers both Chester and Ellesmere Port hospitals, and assessed them as 'requires improvement' overall.

The overall rating of 'requires improvement' is a downgrade from its previous rating of 'good' in all areas, although inspectors noted staff continue to provide a 'good' caring service.

Inspectors noted for Ellesmere Port, the service provided mandatory training in key skills but not all staff completed it, and this was "particularly evident for resuscitation training", while not all staff had completed training on how to recognise and report abuse.

The inspection team also noted: "People could not always access the service when they needed it and received the right care promptly. During our inspection we saw evidence of long lengths of stay," with the average length of stay on general rehabilitation wards being 38 days, rising to 52.5 days for patients on the stroke rehabilitation wards.

Staff told inspectors: "The biggest challenges to discharging patients were those who required ongoing care in a nursing home or who needed complex packages of care. There was some difficulty in accessing providers who could accept these patients. There were additional issues presented due to delays in assessments to access social care."

However, it was noted that staff kept detailed, clear, up-to-date records of patients' care and treatment, treated patients with enough food and drink and pain relief when required in a timely way, and "treated patients with compassion and kindness", respecting their privacy and dignity, taking account of their individual needs.

Emotional support was provided to patients, families and carers to minimise distress, and supported them to understand their condition and make decisions about their care and treatment.

Jane Tomkinson OBE, CEO at the Trust, said: “We are extremely proud that despite the obvious and significant challenges we face, caring has been rated as good in every service the CQC inspected – this is undoubtedly down to the hard work and dedication of our staff and speaks volumes about the fantastic people that work at our Trust.

“We have a way to go but we know where the challenges are and what we need to do to improve further. We are already starting to provide consistently better care to our patients; all our staff are united in their determination to raise the quality of care and improve the experiences patients and their loved ones have using our services.”

Sue Pemberton, Trust Director of Nursing and Quality and deputy CEO, added: "We know we have much more to do and our teams are actively delivering improvements every week. We are focused and will remain so until our services are consistently back to the standards our patients expect them to be.

“Treating our patients with compassion and kindness is a core value for our staff and it is testament to them that this was recognised by the CQC throughout their inspection.

"I would also like to pay tribute to the patients and families who are helping us reshape the way we deliver care at the Trust by working with us and actively giving us their feedback.”