CQC Rates Surgical Services at Salisbury District Hospital Requires Improvement

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated surgical services at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust’s Salisbury District Hospital as Requires Improvement following a routine inspection carried out in September.

Inspectors rated the service Requires Improvement overall, with Safe and Well-led also rated Requires Improvement. The Effective, Caring and Responsive domains remained Good.

The CQC identified breaches of regulations relating to safe care and treatment and governance, and has instructed the trust to submit an action plan setting out how it will make immediate improvements.

The inspection also affected the hospital’s overall rating, with Salisbury District Hospital now rated Requires Improvement overall and for both Safety and Leadership.

Inspectors found that longstanding issues with the storage of surgical equipment and sterilised instrument packs had not been fully addressed. Damaged packaging meant there was uncertainty about whether some instruments remained suitable for use, increasing the potential risk of infection.

The inspection also identified delays in patient flow, with some patients waiting up to four hours in the recovery area for an inpatient bed. Inspectors found that the layout of the main theatre reception area also did not provide sufficient privacy for admissions and discharge discussions.

Despite these concerns, inspectors highlighted several areas of good practice. Feedback from patients was positive, with 98% of respondents using the NHS Friends and Family Test recommending the day surgery unit and 96% recommending the surgical inpatient wards. The service also maintained a stable nursing workforce, with no nursing vacancies recorded in the day surgery unit during the 12 months before the inspection.

Inspectors also found that the hospital performed above the national average on several key outcomes for patients with hip fractures, including timely surgery and early review by specialist teams.

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