Patients praise care improvements made at the Great Western Hospital

Patients can now be assured that improvements made at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon, following a critical inspection report mean that they will receive safe care at the hospital.

More than 400,000 patients, which include those from the Marlborough area, are seen and treated at the hospital every year.

A Care Quality Commission inspection last year resulted in a call for action in relation to the care and welfare of those using the hospital and for an improvement to be made on their nutritional needs.

Now the Commission has given the Great Western the all clear, a new report declaring that it is meeting essential standards.

“We asked patients about their overall care at the hospital,” says the Commission report. “One patient said ‘care here is fabulous’ and another said ‘nothing is too much trouble’.”

“The staff we met on our visits to the wards showed dedication, professionalism and a caring attitude to patients.  We found evidence to judge the hospital had made significant improvements to providing and monitoring fluids.”

“Patients were being protected from the risk of inadequate hydration.”

The Commission’s compliance manager Karen Taylor says the public can “be assured” that they will get safe care at the hospital.

Improvements to surgery procedures include greater communication among staff, rigid equipment inspection and a series of checklists adhered to in order to eliminate mistakes.

To address the issue of patient dehydration, the hospital has installed prominent information boards on wards and carries out greater monitoring of patient’s fluid intake and output.

Hilary Walker, chief nurse at the hospital, says: “We’ve undertaken a vast amount of really important work, and we’re very confident now that things have improved significantly.”