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Chief Inspector of Hospitals seeks your views about the care we provide

England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals is inviting members of the public to tell his inspection panel what you think of the services provided by us.

Your views and experiences will help inspectors decide what to look at when they inspect the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Canterbury, the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, and the Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, in March.

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We are among the first to be inspected and given an overall rating under radical changes which have been introduced by the Care Quality Commission. Our formal inspection will start on Tuesday 4 March.

The Chief Inspector, Professor Sir Mike Richards, announced last year that he will lead significantly larger inspection teams than before, headed up by clinical and other experts including trained members of the public.

To ensure your views as patients and members of the local community are properly heard, the inspectors will be holding three listening events:

 

  • Monday, 3 March 6:30pm - Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, The Precincts, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2EH
  • Wednesday, 5 March 7:00pm - The Winter Gardens, Fort Crescent, Margate, CT9 1HX
  • Wednesday 5 March 6:30pm - Ashford International Hotel, Simone Weil Avenue, Ashford, TN24 8UX

You are encouraged to attend a listening event to find out more about the inspection process, to tell the team about your experiences of care and to say where you would like to see improvements made in the future. 

Sir Mike said: "The new inspections are designed to provide people with a clear picture of the quality of the services in their local hospital, exposing poor or mediocre care as well as highlighting the many hospitals providing good and excellent care.

"We know there is too much variation in quality – these new in-depth inspections will allow us to get a much more detailed picture of care in hospitals than ever before. 
 
"Of course we will be talking to doctors and nurses, hospital managers and patients in the hospital. But it is vital that we also hear the views of the people who have had care at any of the hospitals run by the trust, or anyone else who wants to share information with us. This will help us plan our inspection, and so help us focus on the things that really matter to people who depend on this service.

“This is your opportunity to tell me and my team what you think, and make a difference to NHS services in the local area.”

Sir Mike's inspection team is expected to look in detail at eight key service areas:
  • A&E
  • medical care (including frail elderly)
  • surgery
  • intensive/critical care
  • maternity
  • paediatrics/children’s care
  • end of life care, and
  • outpatients

A full report of the inspectors’ findings will be published by the Care Quality Commission later in the year. We will be one of the first to be given one of the following ratings:  Outstanding, Good, Requiring improvement, or Inadequate.