Care Quality Commission inspectors say they have recognised significant improvements since 2024 when a warning was issued.
Inspectors have also confirmed there are no remaining breaches of regulation across the Emergency Department.
It’s now rated ‘Requires Improvement’ alongside the NHS Trust as a whole.
Kate Slemeck, Managing Director at St George’s said:
“This inspection shows the real impact of our teams’ hard work and focus on improvement. There is a strong commitment from all to continue this improvement journey. Our urgent and emergency care services are renowned for the life-saving and expert treatment our teams provide, and will continue to embed new policies, documentation and digital systems building confidence that the CQC will recognise even greater improvements in the next inspection.”
What needs improving:
The CQC found evidence of a good standard of care with safe systems in place, but not all improvements had been fully embedded in practice to ensure the service is always safe.
Inspectors identified further improvements needed to be made to ensure the right systems were in place to reduce any risk of patients being harmed. This included making sure risk assessments were fully completed for all patients, fully embedding of new safety and digital processes, and closing the gaps in 7 day pharmacy coverage,
The CQC also found that not all staff in the service were aware of changes to important policies, and observed some patients being allowed to take medicines themselves against the Trust’s self-administration policy.
The hospital says work is now underway to strengthen improvement plans in response to the CQC’s findings, including refresher training to ensure consistent adherence to medication policies. The full inspection report can be found on the CQC website.
