Hertford County Hospital is part of East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust and provides a wide range of outpatients, ante/post-natal, diagnostic and therapeutic services to the people of south-east Hertfordshire. It is open Monday to Friday, except on bank holidays, between 8am and 6pm.

During January to December 2014, the hospital facilitated 63,213 outpatient appointments, of which 24% were new appointments and 42% were follow up appointments (7% appointments were not attended by patients).

We carried out an unannounced inspection on 6 November 2015 and inspected a number of the outpatient clinics and diagnostic services at Hertford County Hospital. We spoke with 12 patients and 10 staff including nursing, medical, allied health professionals and support staff. We also reviewed the trust’s performance data and looked at five individual care records.

We inspected one core service, outpatients, and rated it as good.

Overall, we rated Hertford County Hospital as good for four of the five key questions which we always rate. We do not currently rate effectiveness.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff reported incidents appropriately, incidents were investigated, shared, and lessons learned.

• Medicines were stored and handled safely.

• Infection control processes had been followed.

• Nurse staffing levels were appropriate with minimal vacancies.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and their care and treatment was delivered following local and national guidance for best practice.

• Staff were suitably qualified and skilled to carry out their roles effectively and in line with best practice.

• Staff working in the outpatient and diagnostic imaging departments were kind, caring and compassionate.

• We found that outpatient and diagnostic services were generally responsive to the needs of patients who used the services.

• Waiting times were within acceptable timescales. Clinic cancellations were around 2%.

• There was a strong culture of team working across the areas we visited.

However, there was an area of poor practice where the trust needs to make improvements.

The trust should:

• Ensure patients’ records are available for clinic appointments in all cases.

Professor Sir Mike Richards

Chief Inspector of Hospitals

People have reported good experiences at Hertford County Hospital, in both the outpatients department and the urgent care centre. People using the service have found the staff friendly, patient and gentle, and have recommended the hospital to others, finding the building and staff alike pleasant to see.