Source · CQC inspection

Sunderland Royal Hospital

Type NHS Healthcare Organisation Region North East Last inspected 3 Feb 2023

Overall rating: Requires Improvement  View full CQC report

Domain ratings

Five CQC key questions
Safe
Requires Improvement
Effective
Requires Improvement
Caring
Good
Responsive
Requires Improvement
Well-led
Requires Improvement

Earlier inspection findings

pre-2024 framework · 44 must-do 2 should-do

Must-do actions (44)

Legal requirements based on regulation breaches identified during inspection.

Must-do action 1 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must ensure directors have an appropriate disclosure and barring service check and ensure this is repeated where required or the risks of not repeating checks are considered and assessed.
Regulation: Regulation 5
⚠ The trust did not regularly review or update checks with the disclosure and barring service (DBS) for all executive and non-executive directors. The trust had not undertaken a check with the disclosure and barring service for the majority of directors since 2017 and almost half of the board of directors …
Must-do action 2 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must maintain effective records to evidence adherence to the fit and proper persons regulation for directors.
Regulation: Regulation 5
⚠ During our review we found the trust did not complete the required checks on an ongoing basis to evidence compliance with the requirements of the regulation.
Must-do action 3 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must implement an effective system to assess, monitor, and drive improvement in the quality and safety of the services provided, including the quality of the experience for people using the service in line with the regulations
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust did not consistently operate effective governance process to ensure all patients received high-quality care which met their needs. There were examples where failures in governance systems had resulted in unmitigated risks.
Must-do action 4 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must ensure risks in services are appropriately recorded, assessed, escalated to the trust’s board where required, and regularly reviewed.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust’s systems for identifying, escalating and managing risks, issues and performance were not always effective and had resulted in significant unmitigated risks developing in frontline services.
Must-do action 5 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure risk assessments including clinical service risk assessments are up to date, thoroughly assessed and documented and benchmarked against national statutory and best practice guidance. The trust must ensure records of risk assessments are effectively maintained.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust didn’t have effective systems to ensure patient risk assessments were completed, and the care provided was in line with risk assessments.
Must-do action 6 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must implement an effective system to identify and report incidents including the severity of harm. The system must ensure incidents are appropriately reported to internal and external systems within appropriate timescales. The system must ensure incidents are effectively reviewed, lessons and actions are identified and shared with staff.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust was slow to recognise and declare serious incidents which increased the risk of repeat incidents and reduced opportunities for learning, timely actions to reduce risk to patients and effective monitoring of quality and safety by external organisations.
Must-do action 7 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must implement an effective system to ensure that medical, nursing and midwifery staff have the skills, knowledge, and experience to care for and meet the needs of service users within their service area. Training must include but is not limited to cardiotocograph (CTG) interpretation, multidisciplinary skills and drills training including infant abduction, the needs of service users presenting with mental health needs and learning disability and the use of restraint.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The service did not always make sure staff were competent for their roles.
Must-do action 8 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must ensure there is effective oversight of the quality and safety of care provided to patients with mental health needs.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust did not have oversight of the quality and safety of care provided to patients with mental health needs.
Must-do action 9 of 44
Must do
Responsive
The trust must ensure staff undertake assessments for patients who have a learning disability, care needs are assessed and planned to meet their individual needs.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ Patients with a learning disability were not consistently identified and assessed and they did not always receive care that met their needs.
Must-do action 10 of 44
Must do
Responsive
The trust must ensure any patient presenting and assessed by staff as having a learning disability regardless of whether this is identified on GP systems have their individual needs assessed and reviewed by specialist learning disability staff.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust didn’t have clear processes to ensure that all patients with a learning disability were identified clearly in their electronic systems (flagging systems).
Must-do action 11 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must implement an effective system to identify, report and learn from incidents involving the use of restrictive interventions including restraint and rapid tranquilisation.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust did not routinely gather information or monitor incidents which involved the use of restrictive interventions such as restraint or rapid tranquilisation.
Must-do action 12 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must implement an effective system to ensure the assessment, prevention and management of infection prevention and control in the physical environment, this is recorded, monitored, and audited with actions taken to improve compliance.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The service had significant environmental risks and risks to infection prevention and control which had not been identified by the trust.
Must-do action 13 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must implement an effective system to learn from deaths which ensures deaths are appropriately and consistently screened, further review is undertaken where required and lessons learnt are effectively identified and shared with teams.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ Unexpected deaths were not always appropriately and consistently screened.
Must-do action 14 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure all staff have an appropriate disclosure and barring service check and ensure this is repeated where required or the risks of not repeating checks are considered and assessed.
Regulation: Regulation 19
⚠ The trust did not complete the required check of senior leaders on an ongoing basis to evidence compliance with the requirements of the fit and proper persons’ regulation. The trust didn’t have an effective process to ensure that all staff who were employed by the trust were regularly reviewed to …
Must-do action 15 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure staff appropriately monitor, assess, and escalate when service users’ physical health deteriorates in line with best practice, this should be monitored and audited with actions taken to improve compliance.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ In medicine, we found did not always staff identify and escalated deteriorating patients for medical review.
Must-do action 16 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure staff appropriately monitor, assess, and escalate when service users’ mental health deteriorates.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ The service had 24-hour access to mental health liaison and specialist mental health support. However, some staff we spoke with told us that it was often difficult to get psychiatric liaison team input as they would assess over the telephone and if they felt the patient did not warrant an …
Must-do action 17 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure staff undertake and appropriately record intentional rounding of all service users and ensure this is recorded, monitored, and audited with actions taken to improve compliance.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ In medicine, we found did not always staff... consistently undertake intentional rounding.
Must-do action 18 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must implement an effective system to ensure patients receive timely medicines reconciliation.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ National guidance recommends undertaking medicine reconciliation within 24 hours of admission. Audit data across the trust indicated an average rate of 64% completed within 24 hours for 21/2022.
Must-do action 19 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must ensure staff understand and work within the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 whenever they work with people who may lack the mental capacity to make specific decisions.
Regulation: Regulation 13
⚠ Staff did not consistently demonstrate adherence to the Mental Capacity Act.
Must-do action 20 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must ensure staff appropriately record mental capacity assessments and decisions made in service users' best interests.
Regulation: Regulation 13
⚠ Staff did not consistently record capacity assessments or decisions made in patients’ best interests, including patients subject to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
Must-do action 21 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must ensure service user records are audited appropriately to evidence ongoing compliance with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and to identify missed opportunities to safeguard service users.
Regulation: Regulation 13
⚠ The quality report did not show the trust’s compliance with Mental Capacity Act which was a priority workstream in the trust’s quality strategy.
Must-do action 22 of 44
Must do
Responsive
The trust must ensure staff undertake assessments for patients who have a learning disability, where care needs are assessed and planned to meet their individual needs.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ Patients with a learning disability were not consistently identified and assessed and they did not always receive care that met their needs.
Must-do action 23 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must implement an effective system to assess, monitor, and drive improvement in the quality and safety of the services provided, including the quality of the experience for people using the service in line with the regulations
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust did not consistently operate effective governance process to ensure all patients received high-quality care which met their needs.
Must-do action 24 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must ensure that persons employed receive such appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as is necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to perform and be enabled where appropriate to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform.
Regulation: Regulation 18
⚠ Managers did not always appraise staff’s work performance or hold supervision meetings with them to provide support and development.
Must-do action 25 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure staff appropriately monitor, assess, and escalate when service users’ physical health deteriorates in line with best practice, this should be monitored and audited with actions taken to improve compliance.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ Staff did not always identify and act upon patients at risk of deterioration.
Must-do action 26 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure staff appropriately monitor, assess, and escalate when service users’ mental health deteriorates.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ The service had 24-hour access to mental health liaison and specialist mental health support. However, some staff we spoke with told us that it was often difficult to get psychiatric liaison team input as they would assess over the telephone and if they felt the patient did not warrant an …
Must-do action 27 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure staff undertake and appropriately record intentional rounding of all service users and ensure this is recorded, monitored, and audited with actions taken to improve compliance.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ During the inspection we found gaps in intentional rounding on all wards we visited.
Must-do action 28 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must ensure staff understand and work within the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 whenever they work with people who may lack the mental capacity to make specific decisions.
Regulation: Regulation 13
⚠ Staff did not always understand how and when to assess whether a patient had the capacity to make decisions about their care.
Must-do action 29 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must ensure staff appropriately record mental capacity assessments and decisions made in service user’s best interests.
Regulation: Regulation 13
⚠ In one additional record, staff told us the patient lacked capacity to consent to their admission although staff had not completed a mental capacity assessment or recorded a decision made in the patients’ best interest.
Must-do action 30 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must ensure service user records are audited appropriately to evidence ongoing compliance with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and to identify missed opportunities to safeguard service users.
Regulation: Regulation 13
⚠ The quality report did not show the trust’s compliance with Mental Capacity Act which was a priority workstream in the trust’s quality strategy.
Must-do action 31 of 44
Must do
Responsive
The trust must ensure staff undertake assessments for patients who have a learning disability, where care needs are assessed and planned to meet their individual needs.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ Staff did not undertake thorough assessments for patients who have a learning disability, care needs were not assessed and planned to meet their individual needs.
Must-do action 32 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must implement an effective system to assess, monitor, and drive improvement in the quality and safety of the services provided, including the quality of the experience for people using the service in line with the regulations
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust did not consistently operate effective governance process to ensure all patients received high-quality care which met their needs.
Must-do action 33 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must ensure that persons employed receive such appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as is necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to perform and be enabled where appropriate to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform.
Regulation: Regulation 18
⚠ Managers did not always appraise staff’s work performance or hold supervision meetings with them to provide support and development.
Must-do action 34 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure staff undertake cardiotocographies (CTGs) and ensure this is recorded, assessed, monitored and escalated as appropriate with fresh eyes assessments.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ Staff did not consistently complete fresh eyes assessment of cardiotocographies.
Must-do action 35 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure staff complete the WHO safety checklist when required, and ensure this is recorded, monitored, and audited with actions taken to improve compliance.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ Staff did not consistently complete the WHO safety checklist.
Must-do action 36 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure medicines are stored appropriately, and records of medication including controlled drugs, are maintained appropriately.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ Medicines were not always stored appropriately.
Must-do action 37 of 44
Must do
Effective
The trust must implement systems to ensure that midwifery staff are suitably qualified, skilled and competent to care for and meet the needs of patients within all areas of the maternity services, including in the community.
Regulation: Regulation 12
⚠ The service did not have enough maternity staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep women safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment.
Must-do action 38 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must implement an effective system to assess, monitor, and drive improvement in the quality and safety of the services provided, including the quality of the experience for people using the service in line with the regulations
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust did not consistently operate effective governance process to ensure all patients received high-quality care which met their needs.
Must-do action 39 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must ensure risk assessments including clinical service risk assessments are up to date, thoroughly assessed and documented and benchmarked against national statutory and best practice guidance. The trust must ensure records of risk assessments are effectively maintained.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The service had significant environmental risks and risks to infection prevention and control which had not been identified by the trust.
Must-do action 40 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must implement an effective system to identify and report incidents including the severity of harm. The system must ensure incidents are appropriately reported to internal and external systems within appropriate timescales. The system must ensure incidents are effectively reviewed, lessons and actions are identified and shared with staff.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ Managers did not always investigate incidents in a timely manner and did not always share lessons learned with the whole team and the wider service.
Must-do action 41 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must implement an effective system to ensure the assessment, prevention and management of infection prevention and control in the physical environment, this is recorded, monitored, and audited with actions taken to improve compliance.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The service did not control infection risk well. Equipment and the premises were not kept visibly clean.
Must-do action 42 of 44
Must do
Safe
The trust must implement an effective system to ensure service users in established labour receive one to one care in line with best practice.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ In maternity, the service could not consistently provide one to one care for patients in active labour.
Must-do action 43 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must ensure effective risk and governance systems are implemented that supports safe, quality care.
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust did not consistently operate effective governance process to ensure all patients received high-quality care which met their needs.
Must-do action 44 of 44
Must do
Well-led
The trust must ensure audit information is up to date, accurate and properly analysed, areas for improvement are identified and action is taken to make improvements to the quality and safety of care
Regulation: Regulation 17
⚠ The trust’s systems for identifying, escalating and managing risks, issues and performance were not always effective and had resulted in significant unmitigated risks developing in frontline services.

Should-do actions (2)

Recommended improvements to enhance service quality.

Should-do action 1 of 2
Should do
Responsive
The trust should ensure patients living dementia have personalised plans of care which consider their individual needs and preferences.
Should-do action 2 of 2
Should do
Responsive
The trust should ensure patients living dementia have personalised plans of care which consider their individual needs and preferences.

Location details

CQC ID: R0B01
Local authority: Sunderland
Region: North East

Inspection report

Type: Location
Date: 3 February 2023
Rating: Requires Improvement
Actions: 44 must-do 2 should-do
AI-extracted 3 Jun 2026