East Kent Hospitals Trust has welcomed a CQC report recognising improvements in infection prevention and control.
Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, and the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, in March.
It was a focussed inspection to look at infection prevention and control practices, following enforcement action by the regulator in August.
The inspection team identified several areas of outstanding practice, including how staff were protecting clinically extremely vulnerable patients from infection, and changes to resuscitation areas in the emergency departments to help keep staff and patients safe.
It found staff were focused on the infection prevention and control needs of patients receiving care.
Trust chief executive Susan Acott said: “We welcome the CQC’s report, which reflects the hard work of our staff.
“I would like to thank our hard-working staff for their incredible care and commitment over the past 12 months and for their determination to do their absolute best for the people we look after and for each other.
“We will continue to strive for the highest possible standards.”
Areas identified where improvements could be made included changing the layout of the doctors’ mess to allow for social distancing, adding more staff changing rooms to wards, and increasing the infection prevention and control leadership team to ensure they have the resources to support all staff.
The report praised the Trust’s culture, where staff could raise concerns about infection prevention and control without fear and were supported to do so.
As a result of the inspection, conditions previously imposed by the CQC have been lifted.
The CQC’s report is available athttps://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RVV/reports
