The care and treatment provided to older people at Forth Valley Royal Hospital has been praised in a new report published by NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland following an inspection visit in July 2013.

Speaking of the report, Ian Smith, Senior Inspector, said:

 We noted areas where NHS Forth Valley was performing well in relation to the care provided to older people. We saw warm, caring and meaningful interactions between staff and patients. Patient care was carried out in a way that maintained patient dignity and was compassionate and respectful and we believe there is good leadership in the wards. The culture within the wards inspected was one of improvement and putting patients at the centre of care.

 “We found that further improvement is required in a number of particular areas. These include work to ensure patients coming into hospital for an elective (planned) procedure are routinely screened for cognitive impairment and changes to the ward environment to made them more suitable for people with dementia and cognitive impairment.”

Commenting on the report, Health Secretary Alex Neil said:

 Following the recent inspection of Forth Valley Royal Hospital I would like to pay tribute to its dedicated team of staff.

“We have a health service to be proud of – something which is largely due to the commitment of our staff behind each of its achievement.

“As Health Secretary my drive for improvement centres on enabling staff to deliver safe, effective, world class care for the people of Scotland.

“With 97 per cent of patients reporting satisfaction in the care they received at Forth Valley Royal Hospital this report is exactly the kind of reassurance I sought when asking for this programme of inspections to be carried out. Such an achievement from front-line staff deserves to be recognised.

“It is also pleasing to note the range of working being done by the hospital’s Dementia Champions and Alzheimer Scotland Nurse Consultant to increase awareness of dementia and provide the training needed to ensure staff are well equipped to understand the care needs of people with dementia, in order to drive up care standards.

“I am aware that the inspection identified some areas for improvement, and I am confident that NHS Forth Valley will address those concerns and build on the strengths identified in this positive report.”

Prof Angela Wallace, Director of Nursing for NHS Forth Valley, said:

 We welcome this report which highlights many areas of good practice in the acute hospital care provided to older people in NHS Forth Valley

“It recognises our commitment to maintain the dignity of patients and ensure they are cared for with compassion and respect. Inspectors also commented on the warm, caring and meaningful way which our staff interact with patients and the strong leadership provided by senior nurses in our wards.

“Independent feedback from patients about the care and help they received while in hospital was also very positive.

“Work is already underway to address the report recommendations and we expect these to be completed within the next few months.

The full inspection report and an improvement action plan developed by NHS Forth Valley to address the identified issues are available to view at Healthcare Improvement Scotland