Source · CQC inspection

Hinchingbrooke Hospital

Provider Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust Type NHS Healthcare Organisation Region East Last inspected 20 May 2016

Overall rating: Good  View full CQC report

Domain ratings

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

Earlier inspection findings

pre-2024 framework · 5 must-do 11 should-do

Must-do actions (5)

Legal requirements based on regulation breaches identified during inspection.

Must-do action 1 of 5
Must do
Safe
Ensure that there are sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced medical staff on duty in the emergency department. Also ensuring that there are robust contingency plans and which forecast shortages and ensure that sufficient cover is provided.
⚠ The emergency department had small numbers of emergency care consultants and a lack of permanent medical staff cover, leading to staffing shortages and reliance on locum doctors, with times where there was no consultant cover.
Must-do action 2 of 5
Must do
Responsive
Ensure that the time to treatment from a clinician in the emergency department is reviewed and times to treatment are improved.
⚠ Time to see a clinical decision maker to receive treatment in the emergency department was consistently above 60 minutes, with the service averaging around 150 minutes to treatment since January 2014.
Must-do action 3 of 5
Must do
Safe
Ensure that the triage process for ambulance arrivals is received to ensure that the pathway for patients is safely and times of assessment accurately recorded.
⚠ The triage process for ambulance patients was not yet fully embedded, which could place patients at risk through a lack of monitoring, and there was a lack of clarity on the triage process through the ambulance arrival route.
Must-do action 4 of 5
Must do
Safe
Ensure that infection control practices within the emergency department are improved.
⚠ There remained concerns regarding staff hand hygiene techniques and use of personal protective equipment (PPE), with poor infection control practice observed amongst medical staff.
Must-do action 5 of 5
Must do
Safe
Ensure that the processes for the checking of equipment, particularly blood glucose and anaphylaxis boxes, in the emergency department is improved and safe for patients.
⚠ Blood glucose (BM) boxes were not always monitored as required, and the anaphylaxis box was not checked daily as required by national recommendations, with many gaps in checking observed.

Should-do actions (11)

Recommended improvements to enhance service quality.

Should-do action 1 of 11
Should do
Safe
Review the observation and seating arrangements for the children’s area to ensure parents and children only sit in this areas.
Should-do action 2 of 11
Should do
Safe
Should ensure that fridge temperatures are routinely checked.
Should-do action 3 of 11
Should do
Effective
Should allow staff to attend and receive updated mandatory training.
Should-do action 4 of 11
Should do
Well-led
Review the need to monitor the culture of staff within the emergency department.
Should-do action 5 of 11
Should do
Responsive
Review the environment and provision of children’s services and where children are treated.
Should-do action 6 of 11
Should do
Safe
Ensure that records are used in a consistent way across wards, that they are contemporaneous; reflect patient needs and appropriate actions taken following risk assessment.
Should-do action 7 of 11
Should do
Effective
Review the relative risk of readmission for surgery patients as data shows this to be significantly above the England average.
Should-do action 8 of 11
Should do
Responsive
Review the complaints process and the time taken to provide people who complain with a full response.
Should-do action 9 of 11
Should do
Effective
Should ensure that audits are undertaken locally within the emergency department to improve quality measurement and assurance.
Should-do action 10 of 11
Should do
Responsive
Should ensure a consistent monitoring of preferred place of death for patients receiving end of life care.
Should-do action 11 of 11
Should do
Responsive
Should ensure that there is a clear target for fast track discharge of patients requiring end of life care and ensure consistent monitoring of the timeliness of these discharges.

Location details

CQC ID: RQQ31
Local authority: Cambridgeshire
Region: East

Inspection report

Type: Comprehensive inspection
Date: 20 May 2016
Rating: Good
Actions: 5 must-do 11 should-do
AI-extracted 2 Jun 2026