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Dorset County Hospital

Provider Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Type NHS Healthcare Organisation Region South West Last inspected 30 Jun 2026

Location rating: Good  View location on CQC

Location ratings by domain

Five CQC key questions

Ratings held for this CQC location under the Single Assessment Framework, assessed 30 June 2026. Ratings extracted from individual reports are shown separately below.

Safe
Good
Effective
Good
Caring
Good
Responsive
Good
Well-led
Good

CQC assessments indexed

Single Assessment Framework

From 2024 CQC rates services through ongoing assessments rather than comprehensive inspections.

Good
The service is performing well and meeting our expectations.
Date of assessment: 20 to 21 January 2026. Dorset County Hospital provides a range of NHS hospital services. This assessment looked at medical care and urgent and emergency care services due to the age of the rating, which we rated as good overall. The rating of medicine and urgent and emergency care has been combined with the ratings of the other services from the last inspections. See our previous reports to get a full picture of all the other services at Dorset County Hospital. The rating of Dorset County Hospital …

Ratings by service

Medical care (Including older people's care)
Good
Sep 2025
Urgent and emergency services
Good
Sep 2025
Maternity
Good
Apr 2025

Regulatory breaches & enforcement

Current-framework "must do" equivalent

Breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, stated verbatim in the CQC assessment.

Warning notice Overall
This was a follow up assessment following a section 29a Warning Notice issued in June 2023.
· 26 Sep 2025 · CQC source

Most recent report indexed for actions

The date and rating here are from an individual report, not necessarily the location's latest assessment. Report ratings are extracted with AI; verify the original PDF.

Type: Location
Date: 2 November 2023
Rating extracted from this report: Requires improvement
Actions indexed: 6 must-do 9 should-do

Read this inspection PDF

AI-extracted 2 Jun 2026

Earlier inspection findings

pre-2024 framework · 6 must-do 9 should-do

Must-do actions (6)

Legal requirements based on regulation breaches identified during inspection.

Must-do action 1 of 6
Must do
Well-led
The servicemustensuregovernanceprocessesareeffectiveincludingbutnotlimitedtocompletegovernance documentation,actionplansandprogresstracking,accuratedatacollectionandanalysis,andregularmonitoringof safetymeasures,outcomedataandkeyperformanceindicators.
Regulation: Reg17
⚠ Leadersdidnotoperateeffectivegovernanceprocessesthroughouttheservice.Therewasnoeffectiveauditprogrammeandtherewasnoeffectivematernitydashboardinplace.Leadersdidnothaveaccuratedataormonitor,review,andactoniteffectivelytoimproveormaintainthesafetyoftheservice.Sustainabilityoftheservicewasnotmonitoredorreviewedeffectively.
Must-do action 2 of 6
Must do
Well-led
Theservicemustensureaneffectiveandcomprehensive,rollingprogrammeofauditisinplace,andresultsare monitoredforusetoimproveservices.Thisincludesbutisnotlimitedtoeffectivemonitoringofwaittimesand appropriatecareinmaternitytriage,andthequalityofrecordkeeping.
Regulation: Reg17
⚠ Theservicemidnothaveaneffectiveauditprogrammetogainassuranceandoversightthatsafetywasmaintained.Theauditprogrammewasad-hocandauditswerenotrepeatedtocheckforimprovementovertime.Waitingtimeswerenotappropriatelymonitored.Managersdidnotregularlyauditthequalityofrecords.
Must-do action 3 of 6
Must do
Well-led
Theservicemustensureguidelinesarein-date.
Regulation: Reg17
⚠ Processesforensuringguidelineswereuptodatewereineffective.Therewere8guidelinesflaggedasoutofdateatthetimeofinspectionwhichmeantstaffmaynothavebeenprovidingthemostappropriatecare.
Must-do action 4 of 6
Must do
Safe
Theservicemustensurethesafemanagementofmedicines.
Regulation: Reg12
⚠ Theservicedidnothaveeffectivesystemsandprocessestosafelyprescribe,administer,recordandstoremedicines.Someemergencymedicineswerenotavailableinstandarddosages,orineasy-to-makeorpre-madesolutions.Someemergencyboxescontainedunrelatedmedicines.Hardcopiesofseveralout-of-dateguidelineswereattachedtoemergencymedicines.Somemedicineswereoutofdate.A refrigeratorusedtostoremedicinesintheatrewasnotlockedwhentheatreswerenotinuse.Patientmedicineschartsandprescriptionswerepaperrecords,writingwasnotalwayslegible,andprescriptionswerenotalwayssignedanddated.
Must-do action 5 of 6
Must do
Safe
Theservicemustensuretheprocessforopeningandstaffingasecondtheatreisriskassessed,safe,andfamiliarto staff.
Regulation: Reg12
⚠ Processesforopeningasecondemergencytheatrehadnotbeenappropriatelyriskassessed.Staffwerenotalwaysclearontheprocessesinplace,andtherewasnoformalriskassessmentinplaceforopeninganduseofasecondtheatreintheeventofanobstetricemergency.
Must-do action 6 of 6
Must do
Safe
Theservicemustensurewomenandbirthingpeopleareseenaccordingtoclinicalneedandastandardised frameworkisinplacetosupportpatientsafety.
Regulation: Reg12
⚠ Theservicedidnotuseastandardprioritisationframeworktoensurewomenandbirthingpeoplewereseenaccordingtoclinicalneed.Thispresentedariskthatwomenandbirthingpeoplemayreceivedifferentcarefromdaytonight,orthatstaffcompetenttoworkinatriagesettingmaynotavailableovernight.

Should-do actions (9)

Recommended improvements to enhance service quality.

Should-do action 1 of 9
Should do
Safe
Theserviceshouldensureallstaffcompletemandatorytrainingincludingbutnotlimitedtosafeguardingandbasic lifesupport.
Should-do action 2 of 9
Should do
Safe
Theserviceshouldmonitorinfectionrates.
Should-do action 3 of 9
Should do
Safe
Theserviceshouldensuremaintenanceissuesareresolvedinatimelyway,dailysafetychecksarecompletedand documentationregardingmaintenanceisclearandcomplete.
Should-do action 4 of 9
Should do
Safe
TheserviceshouldensureMEOWSandNEWSchartsarecompletedcorrectlyandusedtoeffectivelyidentifyand escalatedeterioratingpatients.
Should-do action 5 of 9
Should do
Safe
Theserviceshouldreviewtheprocessforcontactingmedicalstaffinanemergencytoensuresafeandtimely management.
Should-do action 6 of 9
Should do
Well-led
Theserviceshouldensureincidentsareharm-gradedandratedappropriately.
Should-do action 7 of 9
Should do
Well-led
Theserviceshouldconsiderthevisionandstrategyforachievable,well-definedobjectivesandtheabilitytomeasure andmonitorprogressdelivery.
Should-do action 8 of 9
Should do
Responsive
Theserviceshouldconsiderwaystoimproveeffectivetacklingofhealthinequalitiesaffectingthelocalpopulation.
Should-do action 9 of 9
Should do
Safe
Theserviceshouldimplementaneffectiveprocessforin-uterotransferswithneighbouringunitsofferingahigher levelofneonatalintensivecare.