The Isle of Wight NHS Trust has welcomed the latest findings of the Care Quality Commission, which includes a ‘Good’ rating for the Trust’s NHS 111 service.
The telephone based service, which is part of the Island’s innovative integrated care hub, has been rated ‘Good’ by inspectors following their visit in March of this year. Meanwhile the ‘walk-in’ element of the Urgent Care Service has been rated ‘requires improvement’.
Speaking about the NHS 111 service Chris Smith, Clinical Director for Ambulance, Urgent Care and Community Services and Head of the Ambulance Service at Isle of Wight NHS Trust said:
“In the last five years over 300,000 people have called the NHS 111 service on the Isle of Wight. It is increasingly the first point of call for people seeking advice about healthcare issues when they need an urgent response but it’s not an emergency. It’s fantastic news that the CQC have rated the service ‘Good’ which is a credit to all the staff who provide the service”.
The CQC has said that the Urgent Care Service was responsive and the staff caring but that the effectiveness of the service was inadequate and safety and leadership requires improvement.
Commenting Dr Mark Pugh, Executive Medical Director at Isle of Wight NHS Trust said:
“As a Trust we’re working really hard to ensure that the Trust’s services improve rapidly to meet the concerns identified by the CQC in April. We will be looking closely at the inspection report and ensuring that the actions we are taking following the previous report fully embrace the areas identified in this latest report.”
Maggie Oldham, interim Chief Executive at Isle of Wight NHS Trust said:
“The NHS 111 service on the Island is a great example of some of the good services we have. Everyone in the Trust and on the Island can be proud of the NHS 111 service and we’re pleased this has been recognised by the CQC. There is however work to be done to improve the Urgent Care Service. The Urgent Care Service, along with other areas of the Trust identified previously by the CQC, will be the focus of our improvement work going forward. Staff are working incredibly hard to make the changes required to address the issues identified by the CQC.”
In April the Isle of Wight NHS Trust was deemed ‘inadequate’ and ‘unsafe’, leading to special measures being implemented.
