Letter: The ‘Outstanding’ Accolade is Unhelpful

Published on: 25 Feb, 2024
Updated on: 25 Feb, 2024

The Royal Surrey County Hospital

From: Ian McPherson

In response to: Royal Surrey County Hospital and Maternity Services Rated as Outstanding

I can’t comment on the maternity services, nor on the general medical and housekeeping services (though personal experience of the latter is favourable) but I can comment on the “heavy” housekeeping of the building and its arrangements.

The most obvious start is the visitors’ car park, whose impact is of a chaotic disgrace, including night lighting almost designed to dazzle. Bits of it seem not even to comply with external building regulations.

The drop-off at the hospital’s main entrance is wholly confusing, and actually dangerous in the way that cars dropping off at A&E obscure pedestrians using their crossing.

Then, a lift in the main lift bank has had a defective door for several years to my knowledge. Soap containers in the toilets are not refilled, despite washing with soap being a recommended technique to prevent infection.

Some of the fire doors open in the wrong direction.

I could go on but readers will get the message.

None of these issues are unique to the RSCH, and presumably most will largely arise from general NHS funding and management problems but the accolade of “outstanding” for the RSCH simply obscures these general problems and is unhelpful.

Responses to Letter: The ‘Outstanding’ Accolade is Unhelpful

Frank Phillipson Reply

February 25, 2024 at 11:35 pm

This is a completely unnecessary comment when the article is about an accolade to a medical unit within the hospital.
- Olly Azad Reply
  
  February 26, 2024 at 9:36 pm
  
  The clue appears to be in the title,”Royal Surrey County Hospital and Maternity Services rated as Outstanding” which implies that the hospital should also be rated as “outstanding.”
  
  Therefore Ian McPherson is entirely right to highlight the state of the visitors car park which is anything but outstanding?
  
  On a good day it’s adequate and on other days it’s terrible because of a lack of parking spaces and the confusing entry points to the car park. However, I did find plenty of soap in the dispensers when visiting a patient in one of the wards before Covid 19 even came into existence.
  
  As far as Maternity Ward goes well done to the Royal Surrey for such an achievement, but for the hospital as a whole to be labelled as “outstanding”? There is still scope for further improvements in my humble opinion.
Anthony Mallard Reply

February 26, 2024 at 2:46 pm

If I am correct it was the maternity services that are described as “outstanding”. It is therefore unhelpful of Ian McPherson to conflate his arguments about lifts and soap containers into this worthy accolade following an independent inspection of that service by the Quality Care Commission [CQC].

I am sure we can all pick holes in other nationally underfunded aspects of healthcare, even at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, but let us all, for once, celebrate with the staff who gained this first class and well deserved award.