Have your say on Bedford Hospital ahead of its latest inspection

Residents are invited to voice their views and experiences to the Chief Inspector of Hospital’s panel at a meeting on December 14.

Chief Inspector Professor Sir Mike Richards announced last year he will lead significantly larger inspection teams than before, headed up by clinical and other experts including trained members of the public.

He said: “The inspections are designed to provide people with a clear picture of the quality of the services in their local hospital, exposing poor or mediocre care as well as highlighting the many hospitals providing good and excellent care.

“We know there is too much variation in quality – these new in-depth inspections will allow us to get a much more detailed picture of care in hospitals than ever before.”

He added: “Of course we will be talking to doctors and nurses, hospital managers and patients at the trust. But it is vital that we also hear the views of the people who have received care at the trust, or anyone who wants to share information with us. This will help us plan our inspection, and so help us focus on the things that really matter to people who depend on this service.

“This is your opportunity to tell the team what you think, and make a difference to the NHS services in the local area.”

The trust is being inspected and given an overall rating under radical changes introduced by the Care Quality Commission.

The formal inspection of Bedford Hospital NHS Trust will start on Tuesday, 15 December 2015.

The To ensure the views of patients and the local community are properly heard, the inspectors will be at a listening event at the following venue:

• Monday 14th December 2015 Kings House Bedford, 245 Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9AZ, 6:00PM – 7:30PM

Sir Mike’s inspection team is expected to look in detail at eight key service areas: A&E; medical care (including frail elderly); surgery; intensive/critical care; maternity; paediatrics/children’s care; end of life care; and outpatients.

A full report of the inspectors’ findings from the trust inspection will be published by the Care Quality Commission. The trust will be one of the first to be given one of the following ratings: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate.

More details about the listening events can be found at www.cqc.org.uk/content/listening-event-bedford-hospital-nhs-trust

Anyone who is unable to attend the listening event but wishes to give their views to the inspection team can do this at any time by:

- Completing the Share Your Experience form online at www.cqc.org.uk/share-your-experience-finder

- Emailing [email protected]

- Writing to CQC, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA

- Calling 03000 61 61 61