The leadership team and staff at Isle of Wight NHS Trust are celebrating this morning after the organisation, which was previously placed in Special Measures by NHS England and Improvement four years ago, has been rated overall as ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The organisation went into Special Measures in 2017, was rated as Requires Improvement in 2019 and now, despite the huge challenges of Covid-19 over the last 18 months, and after a great deal of hard work by all involved, is now rated overall as ‘Good’.
‘Outstanding’ caring
Not only has the Trust received an overall rating of ‘Good’, but the inspector found that the care and support received as part of community services exceeded patient’s expectations, meaning it has been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating.
Oldham: “We know that there is more we can do”
Maggie Oldham, Chief Executive of IW NHS Trust, said,
“The people who make up our Trust have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and even with all of those challenges they never lost focus on improving the services we provide to our community.
“It has been a long road to get to Good, but I am so proud of everyone that has contributed to this success. My sincere thanks go to all our staff, our volunteers, our partners and to our community for all their support.”
Ms Oldham went on to say,
“Being rated Good by the Care Quality Commission isn’t the end of our improvement journey – we know that there is more we can do, and our focus now will be on working with our partners to sustain the progress we have made and to ensure that our services are sustainable.
“I hope everyone working at the Trust can take a moment to appreciate the scale of this achievement and to reflect on their important contribution to our improvement – none of this would be possible without our wonderful staff. I cannot thank them enough.”
Seely: “A very significant achievement”
Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, said,
“Delighted to hear the Isle of Wight NHS Trust has been rated Good overall following its recent inspection.
“This is a very significant achievement by the Island’s NHS teams who have managed to raise standards and improve services despite the added pressures of Covid-19.”
The MP went on to add,
“My thanks go to everyone working at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust – in the ambulance service, at St Mary’s Hospital, in Community Services and in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities.
“The challenge now is to sustain this improvement and to make sure that services continue to meet the needs of Islanders.”
Baker: Sustainable improvements put in place and embedded
Ted Baker, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals said,
“At this inspection of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, we found sustainable improvements have been put in place and embedded. This is a great achievement, the more so as it has taken place against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Throughout the inspection, the team received feedback that was overwhelmingly positive about staff often going the extra mile to support patients.
“The care and support received exceeded patient’s expectations, and this has resulted in the trust’s community services receiving an outstanding rating for being caring.”
