Surgery Services at Spire Little Aston Hospital Rated Outstanding by CQC

Surgery services at Spire Little Aston Hospital have been upgraded to outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with inspectors highlighting its robotic surgery programme, patient-centred care and approach to learning and improvement.

The independent hospital in Sutton Coldfield was inspected in May and June as part of CQC’s routine monitoring programme.

Spire Little Aston Hospital, operated by Spire Healthcare, provides surgical, diagnostic, outpatient and inpatient services to NHS patients and people funding their own treatment.

While the hospital’s overall rating remains good, its surgery service has improved from good to outstanding.

Surgery was rated outstanding for caring and well-led, with safe, effective and responsive all rated good.

CQC also assessed the hospital’s outpatient services as good overall. Leadership within outpatients was rated outstanding, while the remaining areas were rated good.

Inspectors highlighted a number of developments within surgery, including a robotic programme for hip and knee replacements. Consultants at the hospital have now carried out more than 1,000 robotic joint replacement procedures.

The service has also introduced a specialist orthotic device designed to improve patients’ mobility and quality of life following surgery.

Patient safety improvements identified by inspectors included the addition of an extra prosthesis check to the surgical safety checklist to reduce the risk of the wrong prosthesis being used. The change was subsequently adopted by other Spire hospitals.

CQC found that leaders understood risks and performance and used patient outcomes, data and feedback to support improvements and develop new treatment pathways.

Inspectors also reported a strong culture among staff, with patients saying they felt listened to, respected and involved in decisions about their treatment.

Sarah Ivory-Donnelly, CQC deputy director of hospitals, secondary and specialist healthcare in the central region, said the culture created by leaders was resulting in exceptional care.

She said staff across the hospital demonstrated a commitment to improving people’s lives and praised the way teams used learning when things went wrong to reduce the risk of incidents being repeated.

Outpatient services were also praised for responding to patient feedback. After concerns were raised about waits to see a nurse, the department improved communication between nursing and reception teams.

Inspectors found staffing levels in outpatients were adjusted each day according to demand, while detailed wound-care records and early warning scores were being used to help identify potential complications.

Following the inspection, surgery at Spire Little Aston Hospital is rated outstanding, outpatient services are rated good and the hospital’s overall rating remains good.

Stay informed with the stories shaping health and social care.