Care at Salford Royal is outstanding, say inspectors

An ‘outstanding’ rating has been given to Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust by England’s chief inspector of hospitals, making it only the second organisation to attain the accolade.

Inspectors spent four days at Salford Royal in January this year and their overall rating of outstanding is made up of a rating of ‘outstanding’ for hospital services and ‘good’ for community services.

Several areas in both the hospital and community services were praised as outstanding, including urgent and emergency services, medical care and community health services for adults.

The trust’s use of its nursing assessment and accreditation system to provide transparent information to patients on key clinical performance indicators and measures was also classed as outstanding practice.

Other examples include the way members of staff talk positively about providing patients with safe and personalised care, the daily 'safety huddles' staff undertake, as well as the way staff communicate information between shifts.

Trust deputy chief executive and executive director of nursing Elaine Inglesby-Burke said: ‘I am so proud the CQC recognises our patients receive outstanding care that is responsive and compassionate. This is a huge accolade for our wonderful staff and one that every executive nurse would wish for.’

The former Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, now Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, received the first outstanding rating, in September last year.