Spire Clare Park Hospital maintains 'Good' CQC rating

• Colleagues and leadership praised for well-led surgical services
• Hospital culture described as a ‘family’
• Hospital is helping to ease pressure on NHS waiting lists

Spire Clare Park Hospital has maintained its ‘Good’ rating, following an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC carried out an unannounced inspection of surgical services offered at the hospital in September. In its report, Spire Clare Park was rated ‘Good’ overall for surgical services being safe and well-led.

CQC inspectors commented on the cleanliness of the ward areas, and singled out clean and well-maintained furnishings. Three patient rooms were recently fully refurbished with the remaining rooms to be addressed during an on-going refurbishment plan. In addition to the hospital having enough nursing and support staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep patients safe, there was a clear governance framework in place to monitor quality and performance across the hospital.

Inspectors commented that training was comprehensive and met the needs of patients and colleagues, while promoting equality and diversity in daily work.

The inspection praised hospital leaders for their experience, capacity and capability. Colleagues told the inspectors that Spire Clare Park is a good hospital to work for, and spoke positively about the hospital’s teamwork, describing the culture as a ‘family’. Inspectors noted that leaders encourage colleagues to take on senior roles, with colleagues giving examples of being promoted and having opportunities to apply for senior positions.

During the pandemic, the hospital provided care to almost 2,000 NHS inpatients, who needed treatment for cancer and other critical conditions, and many thousands of NHS outpatients. It is now helping local NHS trusts in addressing waiting lists in the area.

Ian Thomson, Hospital Director at Spire Clare Park Hospital, said: “We are all pleased that we’ve maintained a ‘Good’ rating from the CQC. This report demonstrates that we are continuing to deliver surgical services and patient care that is safe and well-led.

“Having now maintained our ‘Good’ rating, we’re now setting our sights on continuing to improve the quality of the services we offer to all of our patients.”

The hospital has two wards with 29 beds used for inpatients and day care patients, and a three-bed enhanced recovery unit. All the beds are in single rooms with en-suite bathrooms. The on-site facilities include three operating theatres - two with laminar airflow systems which circulates filtered air to reduce the risk of airborne contamination of wounds and sterile equipment.

98% of Spire Healthcare’s inspected hospitals and clinics are rated ‘Good,’ ‘Outstanding’ or the equivalent by health inspectors in England, Wales and Scotland.