Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as ‘good’ in its first ever full inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In November and December 2018 inspectors visited the maternity and surgical services at the Trust’s three main hospitals – Frimley Park Hospital near Camberley, Wexham Park Hospital in Slough and Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot – and its community inpatient service at Fleet Hospital.

They concluded that the standard of care at Frimley Park was ‘outstanding,’ while Wexham Park, Heatherwood and community inpatient services were ‘good’.

A well-led and use of resources review were also rated as ‘good’, giving the Trust an overall ‘good’ rating.

Frimley Health chief executive Neil Dardis said: “I am consistently humbled by the dedication and care our staff provide for our patients.

"They have been on an incredible journey since the creation of Frimley Health in 2014 - driving improvements in quality and implementing a major capital development programme, whilst delivering some of the best performance standards in the country and transforming models of care by integrating services with our partners, and at a time when the NHS is facing many challenges.

“The latest comprehensive report by the CQC reflects many examples of good and outstanding care across the Trust whilst also highlighting those areas where we need to improve.

"Much has changed in the inspection process since the last time our services were fully assessed, with more rigorous scrutiny on individual services along with separate leadership and use of resources reviews. Our teams should feel proud with the report published today.

"However, our ambition is to seek improvement wherever possible for the benefit of our patients, staff and communities and I welcome the insight provided by the inspection team, which aligns well with our own plans for the future.”

Medical director Dr Tim Ho said: “I’m really proud of how our teams have enhanced many of our services beyond recognition in recent years. We have made, and continue to make, some incredible changes and improvements and the feedback received from the inspection team has clearly shown where we have got things right. As importantly, they have also highlighted what more we need to do to enable us to meet all the care needs of our patients.

“I’m especially delighted that our community inpatient services were rated as ‘good’ by the CQC in their first ever inspection. Managing these services has greatly improved the way we link hospital and community care, which has been much better for patients and helped to broaden our career offering for hospital and community staff.

“As well as working much more closely with our health and social care partners to provide the right care in the right place for patients, our ambitious £200m capital programme has delivered an upgrade to our maternity facilities and a new emergency care centre at Wexham Park, and plans are well underway to build a new hospital at Heatherwood and a diagnostic and inpatient centre at Frimley Park.

“I am pleased that this report shows we are travelling in the right direction to deliver excellent care for the next decade and beyond.”