HRI loses ‘excellent’ rating after checks

Oct 15 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

THE quality of services at the health trust that runs Huddersfield Royal Infirmary has slipped, according to ratings out today.

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust was labelled ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – down from ‘excellent’ last year.

But trust bosses insist patient care standards have not fallen.

Director of nursing Helen Thomson said: “Always you are a bit disappointed when you go down, because staff and patients get a boost out of it when the ratings are excellent.

“The positive thing, though, is that the quality of patient care has not gone down at all.

“In fact, in terms of the measures we have got, it has gone up.

“Although the overall rating makes people stop in their tracks, when we have done the analysis, patient care is still very good.”

The trust, which also runs Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax, got 35 points out of 39 – two short of an excellent rating – when it was assessed between April 2008 and March 2009.

Assessors checked issues like patient safety, cleanliness and waiting times, all of which were met by the trust.