THE new £430 million Southmead Hospital has come in for heavy criticism in a report which described the trust behind the facility as requiring improvement.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out an inspection of the North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) in November and was critical of staffing skill levels across a range of the hospital’s services.

Southmead Hospital’s emergency department came under heavy criticism in the report with it being described as “inadequate” – the lowest rating possible.

Significant concerns with the flow of patients through the hospital were raised by inspectors with some patients remaining on trolley beds in A&E for over 12 hours.

However, the report praised staff at Cossham Hospital for going out of their way to involve women and their partners in their maternity care, and to reach out into the community to promote the use of the unity.

Inspectors also found every service to be caring, with staff at all levels committed to providing good patient care.

The chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: “First I must congratulate all the staff and volunteers at Southmead Hospital on the way they have coped with all the upheaval in moving into the new hospital. It was a huge logistical exercise, and since then there has been a large number of snagging issues to sort out. I know that staff morale has been affected.

“While the move has been managed well - there are some longstanding performance and financial issues to resolve which have a direct bearing on patient safety and the wellbeing of the staff.

“There has been unprecedented demand, which has not always been dealt with effectively. Overall bed occupancy is above the level where it can start to affect the quality of care and the orderly running of the hospital. It is a concern that too many people have been waiting too long in the emergency department, or in inappropriate accommodation, because the hospital beds are full.

“These are matters which the trust cannot fix alone. It will need to continue to work in partnership with the local commissioners and local authorities to ensure that people who are ready to be discharged from hospital get the support they need as soon as possible.”

Andrea Young, chief executive of North Bristol NHS Trust, said: “I am very pleased that the CQC rated every one of our services as being “good” for caring and I am particularly pleased that the CQC described our maternity service in Cossham Hospital and our community services for children and young people as “outstanding”.

“As the CQC notes, the solution to our challenges of under-capacity and over-crowding lies in the whole health and social care system in Bristol working together.

“We are addressing some of the important issues raised by the CQC but the question of capacity requires a response from the whole of the local health and social care community.

“It’s also important to remember that this inspection took place in the run up to Christmas, the busiest period in the history of the NHS not just here in Bristol but across the country.”

Asked about shortages of skilled and experienced staff, outlined in the report, she added: “There are three or four areas where we have a shortage of skilled staff, these are all areas were we have increased staff levels.

“We monitor levels of staffing all the time and are working with staff to look at new training programmes.”

Chairman of South Gloucestershire CCG, Dr Jonathan Hayes, said: “There is much to welcome in this rigorous independent report and as co-coordinating commissioner of services from NBT I am pleased that the CQC has recognised the Trust’s high standard of care and staff commitment.

“However there are clearly many internal actions that the Trust needs to take in order to improve patient care and experience as it continues to settle into the new hospital.”

Chief executive officer of South Gloucestershire Council Amanda Deeks said: “We welcome the findings published in the CQC report on North Bristol NHS Trust which rate maternity services at Cossham Hospital and children’s community health services as outstanding. There are areas within NBT where improvements need to be made.

“We will work with our partners in health to improve the patient journey for South Gloucestershire residents accessing A&E services, this must include the community facilities being developed at sites in Thornbury and Frenchay. The action plan will be scrutinised by our Public Health & Health Scrutiny Committee at a later date.”