Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has retained their overall rating of ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for the second consecutive time and have achieved ‘outstanding’ for their Critical Care service.

Chief Executive of the Trust, Suzanne Rankin, said “this is a fantastic achievement. It is testament to the hard work and dedication of every member of the team at both Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals”

The CQC provide an overall rating for each Trust, as well as ratings for each hospital and specific ratings for certain services and measures. A summary of some of the key results from the review are as follows:

  • St Peter’s Hospital is rated overall as ‘Good’, which is a big improvement from the 2015 rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ and a great result.
  • The Trust’s Critical Care service is rated as ‘Outstanding’ – a huge improvement from the ‘Requiring Improvement’ rating in 2015 and a phenomenal achievement, reflecting the team’s particular strengths in providing high quality, compassionate care and leadership.
  • The CQC also inspected the Children’s and Young People’s, Medicine and Outpatients services at St Peter’s Hospital. All are rated as ‘Good’ and for the Children’s and Young People’s service this is an improvement from the 2015 rating of ‘Requiring Improvement’.

Medical Director David Fluck and Chief Nurse Sue Tranka said: “Overall, this is a really fantastic result and we are so proud of all our colleagues. The CQC report paints a picture of high quality and responsive care, good leadership and management. We know, of course, that we still have some work to do and safety issues to improve upon and we will be putting specific action plans in place, which we will share with the CQC and throughout the Trust.”

Chairman Andy Field added: “I am particularly delighted that we have improved our rating for St Peter’s Hospital and other services – such as Critical Care – since 2015. The challenges of working in the NHS and healthcare are well documented, so driving services forward and making improvements in this context is a real achievement. I would like to thank each and every member of Team ASPH for their contribution. During the inspection our colleagues were proud to show their services to the CQC and this result is one we can all be proud of.”