Record keeping concerns remain at Ashford and St Peter’s

An unannounced visit by the CQC last December raised several concerns. These mainly focused on the use of the day surgery unit as an escalation area overnight. This practice was stopped in January.

Concerns were also raised around training and support for staff and about the way the trust recorded staff training and supervision.

Following a recent return visit to St Peter’s Hospital on 23 May, the CQC found only one area of concern remaining, for record keeping.

According to a trust press release, during their visit the CQC found evidence that not all patient care records were kept up to date, with some care plans relating to specific needs (for example, communication, risk of falling and nutrition) missing.

Trust chief nurse Suzanne Rankin said: “Whilst it is clearly disappointing to have a concern still noted around record keeping, we take this very seriously and are doing a lot of work to put this right.”

“We now have 14 days to send the CQC our detailed action plan which will describe how we intend to put this right. We have already done a lot of work with staff on this, including looking at simplifying our documentation to make it easier to keep up to date, as well as more intensive training so everyone is clear about their responsibilities.”

She added: “Maintaining accurate documentation is a crucial element of effective patient care and we are determined to get this right.”