TAMESIDE Hospital has again been rated as good for its services for children and young people.
But a report does detail how progress has been made after investigations into deaths in late 2023 ‘identified common themes in both incidents around infective causes and sepsis management.’
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected the Ashton-under-Lyne facility in January in response to what it describes as ‘concerns received about serious incidents within the service.’
And it scored a good rating in each of the five categories that form the overall mark – safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
In its report, the CQC states: “The service had enough suitably trained staff to care for children and young people and keep them safe.
“Staff protected people from abuse and managed incidents and medicines well.
“Staff assessed children and young people’s risks and health needs, gained their consent and worked well together as a team.
“The service had made improvements to processes for managing deteriorating health and sepsis management and had plans in place to make further improvements.
“Most children and young people experienced positive outcomes following their care and treatment and could access the service when they needed it, in a way that promoted equality and protected their rights.
“Leaders ran services well. There were clear and effective governance, management and accountability arrangements.”
In the detailed breakdown of the ‘safe’ category, the CQC found there had been no ‘never events’ – serious patient safety incidents that should not happen if healthcare providers follow national guidance on how to prevent them – in the past 12 months.
Figures showed had been 1,048 incidents relating to children and young people, of which 99 per cent resulted in no or low harm, four were of moderate harm and one was of severe harm.
It also details the process around the deaths.
The report adds: “The severe harm incident related to radiology/ X-ray services and was being investigated at the time of our inspection.
“We looked at the investigation report for a moderate harm incident (relating to delays in medical treatment) and this showed the incident had been appropriately investigated and improvement actions were identified to aid learning and minimise reoccurrence.
“The hospital previously reported five deaths relating to children and young people’s services during December 2023.
“Two of these incidents were graded as serious incidents and investigations identified common themes in both incidents around infective causes and sepsis management.
“We saw evidence these incidents had been investigated and improvement actions relating to managing deteriorating health and sepsis management had been put in place.
“During the past 12 months, there had been four further deaths relating to children and young people’s services. We looked at the investigation reports for two death incidents. These contained appropriate information, actions and evidence of learning and improvement.
“The incident reports detailed the involvement and support provided for staff involved in the incidents as well as support for people who used the service and relatives.
“There had also been five neonatal deaths reported during the past 12 months. Each incident had been investigated and learning shared.”
Services for children and young people at Tameside Hospital include a dedicated emergency department and paediatric outpatient department, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a children’s unit that includes paediatric day surgery and an observation and assessment area.
Inspectors did not find any areas where children and young people were being placed at risk of harm.
On action that had been taken since the 2023 child deaths, they found it had learned.
The report continues: “Investigations identified further improvements were required in relation to identifying and managing people with deteriorating health and those with suspected infections such as sepsis.
“Action plans were put in place to make improvements and we found improvements had been made.
“The service had guidelines, pathways and screening tools that were based on national guidelines for the management of children and young people with sepsis, including neonatal sepsis.
“Staff understood how to identify and manage sepsis in line with policies and national guidelines.
“Training in aspects of sepsis management was included in paediatric life support training and paediatric acute illness management courses undertaken by staff.
“Additional in-house paediatric sepsis training had been developed and was planned for roll out during March 2025.
“A children and young people’s sepsis audit was undertaken during August to September 2024.
“It was based on seven indicators and showed improved compliance in five since May 2024. These were for taking blood cultures, administering IV fluids within one hour, use of sepsis screening tools, implementing sepsis care bundles and completing full set of observations on admission.”
In addition, CQC inspectors found more positive aspects, including that staff considered children and young people’s specific needs, wishes and preferences in their care plans.
The service had processes to support young people with long-term conditions such as epilepsy, asthma and diabetes when transitioning to adulthood.
Staff were aware of how to escalate key risks that could affect people’s safety, such as staffing and bed capacity issues and there was daily involvement by ward managers, clinical leads and matrons to address these risks.
The service had a strong focus on meeting the needs of the diverse population, particularly for children and young people with additional needs and disabilities.
Also, children and young people’s cultural and social needs were met and most staff had completed autism awareness training and equality, diversity and human rights training.