Kettering Hospital says it is working to eliminate risks highlighted in a report by a national watchdog.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulator has claimed the trust is one of 20 hospitals in the second of six bands ranked by the risk caused to patients.
Band one includes those hospitals deemed by the CQC to be the highest risk and which it says do not offer safe and good-quality care to patients. Northampton General Hospital is one of 24 trusts in that band.
Among the risks identified at Kettering Hospital were cancelled operations, aftercare of hip fracture patients and the hospital’s governance.
The hospital was also marked down after a “never event”, a serious procedural incident, took place this year.
Kettering Hospital’s chief operating officer, Sue Watkinson, said the hospital had already addressed many of the risks highlighted by the CQC.
She added: “We welcome this new initiative to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date system that monitors the many different activities, and potential risks, that modern hospitals have to manage.
“Overall the CQC found no evidence of risk at KGH for 150 indicators covering a very wide range of hospital activity including compassionate care, mortality, infections, discharge, overall experience and waiting times.
“Maintaining high standards of care and clinical safety are our top priority and, in addition to these external checks, we have a very robust internal safety and quality system.
“Our internal system recently attracted national attention for the way we monitor a wide range of patient experience and safety indicators using modern technology so that we are alerted to any concerns and can act on them immediately.
“The new CQC system has highlighted some risks for us to tackle – most of which we were already working on, and some of which are looking in to.”
She also said two of the risks highlighted by the CQC regarding stroke care no longer applied to Kettering because services had been transferred to the county’s acute stroke centre at Northampton General Hospital.
Source: northantstelegraph.co.uk