Ripley Hospital is a small community hospital in Ripley, Derbyshire. There is one inpatient ward, Butterley, which provides rehabilitation services for up to 20 adults.

Patients were very positive about the caring way staff treated them. We observed staff using good communication skills to establish rapport with patients and build their trust. The Trust employed a range of specialist teams to support staff on inpatient units. These included continence nurse specialists, the falls team and speech and language therapists. There were plans for seven day working to cover all four local hospitals including Ripley, to provide a better service for patients.

Patients on the ward received integrated rehabilitation from an effective multidisciplinary team. The staff had developed opportunities to promote people’s independence and emotional well-being. Patients’ progress was monitored and reviewed and the staff team could access other professionals for advice as needed.

There were systems in place to monitor and report safety incidents including falls and pressures ulcers. There was a culture of learning as a result of incidents. Patients’ care was centred on safety and preventing avoidable harm. Some medicines administration records were incomplete and had not been picked up in routine checks. Patient information was kept securely and the environment and equipment were appropriately maintained.

The discharge planning system on the ward was very effective. There was good engagement with other partners including social care. Managers were largely seen as supportive. Staff were confident that ward managers prioritised safe, high quality, compassionate care and escalated issues and concerns in an appropriate way. Not all staff felt valued by the Trust. Healthcare support workers felt in some cases their additional training and skills were not valued and that opportunities for progression were limited.