It is with great pride and happiness that I can officially tell you we have been rated as GOOD by the CQC. Following the three day inspection during May 2019, and separate inspections on our leadership and how we use our resources, inspectors found a number of improvements and positive practices across patient care, including improvements in surgery, medicine and maternity. As a result, the Trust is now rated as Good for being caring, effective, responsive, well-led and for use of resources and is Good overall.
Maternity services at both hospitals are now rated Outstanding for being responsive. This is, in part, thanks to the innovative new Pregnancy Advice, which was launched in partnership with South East Coast Ambulance Service, and has meant that pregnant people in Surrey can access services and advice faster than ever before. It also reflects the fact that the Trust was the first in London to be awarded the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative Gold Award.
The improvement in our overall rating and in many of our services reflects our absolute commitment to the health and wellbeing of our patients and the babies born in our care. I am so deeply proud of every single member of our staff, and I hope our local communities are proud to have Epsom and St Helier hospitals and our community services on their doorstep.
As a small token of thanks for all that we have achieved, our facilities team will be delivering a selection of Krispy Kremes, cupcakes and fruit to teams across the organisation today.
I should also mention that the inspection showed that our Trust is performing well behind the scenes too, having assessed whether our services are well-led and whether we use our resources wisely and efficiently. As you will know, whether a health care provider is well-led can have a significant impact on patient care and in fact, the CQC's comprehensive inspections of NHS trusts have shown a strong link between the quality of overall management of a hospital trust and the quality of its services. This inspection showed that our Trust Board had the appropriate range of skills, knowledge and experience to perform their role and senior leaders were aware of the current priorities and challenges of the Trust and knew of the various strategies and measures to address them. We were also awarded a rating of Good for use of resources, which is particularly impressive in an organisation where, because we run duplicate services across two sites, we have a naturally occurring deficit.
But of course, despite all of that good news, the report also highlights areas that need to be improved. The CQC did acknowledge improvements in A&E but it remains as requires improvement. We have asked the inspectors to come back soon to look at our emergency departments again, and we are already working on the issues that they have raised and areas that need further development.
Inspectors also noted that in many areas of the Trust, the environment was not always appropriate for the services being delivered, due to the age and structure of the estate. That's exactly why we are investing record amounts of money into our buildings, and are working to secure a £500 million investment into a new acute hospital that will ensure Epsom and St Helier can provide long-term, sustainable services for decades to come.
Dr Nigel Acheson, CQC Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals noted as their report was published. He said:
"I am very pleased that Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust has attained a Good rating overall. Management and staff have worked well to improve from the previous Requires Improvement attainment.
"I was particularly impressed with the standard of maternity care at the Trust, which had received a prestigious award.
"The Trust is going in the right direction with a management team committed to further improving care in the future."
NHS Improvement's Use of Resources rating for the Trust was Good overall. Its rating combined with CQC's Good quality rating amounts to a combined Good overall standard.