Salford Royal Hospital provides outstanding care, the Care Quality Comission (CQC( has ruled in its latest report.
Inspectors visted across four days in January this year, and gave its A&E departments, end of life care in the community and general medical care the highest possible rating.
“We rated the trust as good for being safe and effective, and we rated it as outstanding for being caring, responsive and well-led,” say the CQC.
Salford Royal is the first in the North of England to get the ‘Outstanding’ rating.
Critical care and services for young children were scored ‘Good’ but surgery, and the hospital’s outpatients sectors got a ‘Requires improvement’ grade.
In radiography, the report highlighted serious work backlogs, for example in October 2014 there were 1,400 MRI scans awaiting reports.
The trust found that between November 2013 and October 2014 only 57% of clinics started on time, with not enough doctors, and patients double-booked.
And inspectors found the outpatients area needed quick improvement with a sewerage leak through the ceiling.
But the largely postive report found the hospital treated staff well, communicated between teams and “has some of the best scores in the country on the staff survey, reflecting the positive culture in the organisation.”
Core services are good, and there is a strong emphasis on providing caring, compassionate and dignified care to patients.
Salford Royal Chief Executive Sir David Dalton said: “We are absolutely delighted to achieve the rating of Outstanding. We are the second Trust in the country to do this – the first Trust with integrated acute and community services.
“This rating is so thoroughly well deserved by the remarkable people who work for Salford Royal across our hospital and community services.”
The Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust employs 6,600 people.
