Significant improvements planned for Newham Hospital’s emergency department
Significant improvements are planned for the emergency department at Newham hospital to reduce waiting times for patients and improve their experience of care.
The first step is to deploy a dedicated waiting room nurse to look out for patients at risk of deterioration.
Record numbers of patients are seeking urgent or emergency care at Newham, with a daily average of 450 attendances that is almost double what the space was built for.
The Care Quality Commission commended the patient-centred culture of care in the department and praised the way clinical teams collaborated with local partners to support patients with mental health needs.
In a report today it acknowledged the hospital was operating under significant operational pressure during an inspection in May, and this affected the delivery of timely care.
Antoinette Smith, CQC deputy director of hospitals in London, said:
“During our inspection of urgent and emergency care at Newham University Hospital, we found caring and committed staff working hard under significant operational pressure. At the time of our inspection, the hospital was operating at the highest level of NHS escalation, meaning demand was exceeding the service’s capacity and required urgent system-wide action.”
The CQC continued to award the department “good” ratings for being effective, caring and well-led, but downgraded its assessment of responsiveness to requires improvement. Unfortunately, this means the department loses its overall rating as good for urgent and emergency care and must now provide an action plan to improve outcomes for people using the service.
Our improvements
We have introduced a dedicated waiting room nurse to improve oversight and safety, alongside enhanced checks and escalation processes to identify patients before they deteriorate.
The CQC found variability in documentation and risk assessments, so we've standardised how documentation is assessed and introduced a weekly review process. A hospital-wide improvement programme is also underway to improve flow and triage, helping patients get the care they need sooner. This includes a focus on clinical pathways to ensure patients are allocated to the right services as early as possible within their journey.
We've also secured additional resources to support homeless patients and earlier discharge.
Medical Director at Newham Hospital, Liat Sarner said,
"We want to thank our teams in the emergency department for the compassionate care they've shown to patients during a period of exceptionally high demand.
We acknowledge the CQC's findings and the impact that sustained pressure on our services has had on patients. Patient safety is our absolute priority, and we have already begun making significant improvements, including a new dedicated waiting room nurse and enhanced oversight and checks from senior leadership.
We recognise there is more to do, and we're committed to working closely with our patients, staff and the CQC as we implement our action plan to ensure every patient receives safe, high-quality care."
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