Healthwatch Greenwich Welcomes Queen Elizabeth Hospital's 'Good' CQC Rating
Healthwatch Greenwich congratulates Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) on achieving an overall 'Good' rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This marks a significant achievement and reflects the hard work, commitment, and dedication of staff across the hospital. The CQC recognised positive improvements across a number of services, including urgent and emergency care, medical care, diagnostic services and outpatient services, praising the kindness of staff, improvements in patient care, strong teamwork and a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
As the independent champion for people using health and care services in Greenwich, Healthwatch Greenwich has worked closely with colleagues at Queen Elizabeth Hospital over many years and has supported a number of improvement initiatives. This has included gathering and sharing patient and family experiences through our Enter and View programme, supporting work to improve communication and the patient experience in outpatient services, and contributing to wider discussions about how services can better meet the needs of local residents, particularly those who can face additional barriers to accessing and navigating health and care services.
We have also collaborated with the Trust on its "Waiting Well" work, helping to ensure that the experiences and perspectives of patients waiting for planned surgery inform service development and the support available to patients during their wait.
While the CQC report highlights areas where further progress is still needed, this rating represents an important milestone for QEH and demonstrates what can be achieved through strong leadership, committed staff, effective partnership working and a willingness to listen to patients and local communities.
We welcome the Trust's continued focus on listening to patients and improving services and look forward to continuing to work with Queen Elizabeth Hospital to ensure that the voices of patients, carers and families from all parts of our community help shape future improvements and build on this achievement.
What This Means for People Using Services
For those relying on local hospital services, this rating signals greater confidence in the quality and consistency of care. Improvements to urgent care pathways and faster diagnostic access may also help reduce waiting times and improve patient flow.
However, the report also makes clear that progress must continue. Experiences such as long waits, communication challenges, and discharge delays remain concerns raised in wider patient feedback, and ongoing attention will be needed to address them.
If you need hospital care, you can access services via your GP or NHS 111 (call 111 or visit 111.nhs.uk). For urgent situations, attend A&E or call 999.
Support with navigating services is also available through NHS advice lines and local patient support organisations. If you have recent experience of care at Queen Elizabeth Hospital or elsewhere, sharing feedback can help shape future improvements.
