AN INSPECTION of a hospital found employees feeling undervalued and undersupported, staff shortages and patients' needs not being met.

A report published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) into the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton downgraded its accident and emergency department to “requires improvement”.

It raised concerns about the number of staff who had completed mandatory training in certain areas.

The report found patients were frequently accommodated in non-clinical areas in the emergency department and said: “The service was not able to plan and provide care in a way that met the needs of local people and the communities served.”

The department’s environment did not allow staff to meet patients' individual needs. The report highlighted how only one cubicle was allocated for consultation with patients in the corridor.

It stated: “Staff spoke about frequent occurrences when patients’ personal needs could not be met, because the one cubicle allocated for this purpose was occupied.

“Staff said this resulted in some patients being incontinent of urine or faeces.”

In some short stay areas, where mental health patients were accommodated, there were low ceilings and no natural light, with staff expressing concern that this “gave an oppressive feeling to the unit”.

At the hospital’s surgery department, inspectors found there remained a lack of nursing and support staff with the right skills, training and experience to keep patients safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment.

Staff told inspectors that morale remained low within some groups in theatres and recovery, with some also saying they did not feel valued and respected at work.

“Some staff told us they were concerned about speaking with us, as this may reflect badly on them,” the report said.

While the hospital’s maternity service had improved staff numbers, with enough to keep women and babies safe, the report also noted that “on many shifts they did not have the planned number of staff”.

Dr George Findlay, chief executive officer at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust which runs the hospital, said: “Since I returned to the trust two months ago, I have been extremely impressed by the efforts and commitment of colleagues in all our hospitals to always provide the highest standards of patient care despite the pressures on our services.

“I am pleased, therefore, that the inspectors recognised a real commitment to patient care across all services and noted the wide range of improvements made since their previous inspection of maternity and surgery in September 2021. 

“We recognise there is more work to do and we are doing it. We are successfully recruiting new people to our teams and filling our staffing gaps. We have secured investment and are finalising a business case to improve the layout and functionality of the emergency department at the RSCH and are continuing to build on the improvements we have made in all areas.  

“Some issues take longer to resolve than others, but I want people across Sussex to know that when they come to a UHSussex hospital, we will do all we can to provide the safe, high quality, effective care they expect.”