Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI) staff have been heralded for their “positive and compassionate” care following a recent unannounced inspection.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s report recognised senior managers and clinical staff worked well together across the hospital to manage pressure and risks from COVID-19 and increased demands on services.
The inspection team were also impressed by the way that the PRI team responded to real-time pressures through safety briefings and huddles.
The two-day visit over December 7-9, 2021 saw inspectors review the ward and hospital environment, observe and speak with staff and access patients’ health records, monitoring reports, policies and procedures.
The inspectors were granted access to the Perth hospital's accident and emergency department, general outpatient department, medical assessment unit, orthopaedic outpatient department as well as wards one, three, six and seven.
Most patients said they had a good experience of care, with inspectors noting in the report that patients were “treated with dignity and respect” during their time at the hospital.
The summary of the inspection noted: “During our inspection we observed that senior managers and clinical staff within NHS Tayside were working well together to manage and mitigate risks from COVID-19 and increased hospital admissions to support the safe delivery of care.
“Staffing pressures associated with COVID-19 were being experienced across NHS Scotland at the time of inspection and we found that some areas within the hospital were working with a high number of supplementary staff (additional staff who cover absences and/or provide additional support due to increased service demands).
“For example, one area had 50 per cent supplementary staff on the day shift and 36 per cent supplementary staff on the night shift.”
The report added that there was a 12 per cent vacancy rate within the Registered Nursing and eight per cent within the Healthcare Support Worker workforce for November 2021.
Also that there was a sickness absence level of 5.85 per cent within nursing and special leave absence at 5.69 per cent, due to COVID-19 related absences.
The inspectors noted this “affected the coordination and provision of care”, with some patients describing in one area of the hospital not being able to gain help from staff when they needed it.
It concluded however: “The majority of patients in all other areas of the hospital that we inspected described a good experience of care.
“We observed that in the majority of cases, care was provided well, in a positive and compassionate manner.
“We saw staff working and communicating well together across the hospital, understanding their patients’ health needs and delivering good care despite increased pressure and workload.”
Associate nurse director at PRI Kathryn Brechin said: “We are pleased with the many positive comments and observations from both patients and the inspectors.
“We know that our staff are committed to providing the best possible care for patients and this report reflects their continued efforts in the face of COVID-19 and the challenges we have faced through the pandemic.”
Healthcare Improvement Scotland also asked NHS Tayside to provide evidence of its policies and procedures relevant to the inspection.
The purpose of this is to limit the time the inspection team is onsite, reduce the burden on ward staff and to inform the virtual discussion session.
On Thursday, December 9, 2021 a virtual discussion session with key members of NHS Tayside staff was held to discuss the evidence provided and the findings of the inspection.
