Medical care at Nottingham's hospitals is Good  | Latest news

Health services regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated medical care (including older people’s care) at both the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) and Nottingham City Hospital as Good overall following an unannounced inspection in April 2026 and May 2026.

Published today (Friday 6 November), the report highlights:

• That staff “treated people with kindness and dignity, worked well with partner organisations to support people after they left hospital, and ran creative projects to improve people’s experiences of care.”
• Staff working well with community organisations to ensure care ran smoothly after patients left the hospital, and an open and inclusive culture where staff worked together to achieve the best outcomes. 
• “Staff understood people's needs and provided consistent, compassionate and person-centred care. They treated people with kindness and respect.”
• Patients and their relatives told inspectors they were happy with the care they received, and staff ensured they spent enough time with people despite being busy. 

As well as an overall rating for the services, the CQC also rates services in five ‘domains’; Safe, Effective, Caring, Well-Led and Responsive.  Medical care was rated Good in all domains at both sites. 

Medical Care (including care of older people) at City Hospital 

Nov 2026

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Well-led - Good

Responsive - Good

Overall - Good

 

Medical Care (including care of older people) at QMC

Nov 2026

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Well-led - Good

Responsive - Good

Overall - Good

The latest inspection once again confirms that Nottingham City Hospital is rated Good overall, and QMC is rated as Requires Improvement overall.    

Nottingham City Hospital overall rating 

Nov 2026

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Well-led - Good

Responsive - Good

Overall- Good

Queen’s Medical Centre overall rating

Nov 2026

Safe - Requires Improvement

Effective - Requires Improvement

Caring - Good

Well-led - Requires Improvement

Responsive - Requires Improvement

Overall - Requires Improvement

Tracy Pilcher, Chief Nurse at NUH said:

“We are pleased the CQC has rated the medical care at both City Hospital and QMC as Good across all domains. The ratings reflect the hard work and care of our colleagues in these services and should give confidence to the community that we serve about the level of care they can expect, and how they can expect to be treated in our hospitals. 

“The inspectors made positive comments from both sites about the kindness and dignity that patients were treated with, and the positive systems that are in place to ensure safe continuity of care.

“We would like to thank our staff that work hard every day to provide the best care possible to our patients.”

During the same inspection, the CQC reviewed Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) at QMC, again rating this as Requires Improvement overall.

 

Urgent and Emergency Care 

Nov 2026

Safe - Requires Improvement

Effective - Good

Caring - Requires Improvement

Well-led - Requires Improvement

Responsive - Requires Improvement

Overall - Requires Improvement

The rating reflects ongoing challenges in the Emergency Department and across the wider system, including the ongoing impact on patients and staff of corridor care.

The CQC did however recognise that patients and families were positive about staff, who provided effective care and treatment.  They found a “positive, supportive culture among emergency department staff”, who worked well together despite the pressures that they face. 

Emergency care in Nottingham has been very challenging this year.  This summer has seen some of the highest admissions of patients, walk-ins and ambulance attendances ever, up almost 6% in A&E and 18% in other areas. 

Tracy Pilcher added: “The CQC have rightly highlighted the challenging conditions that colleagues in our Emergency Department have been working under for a prolonged period of time, and the affect this has on people using our services.

“The issues raised are known to us and we are working hard to address them. In particular, corridor care is not something we want in our hospitals, and it is absolutely not what we want for our patients. Delivering care in unacceptable spaces isn’t right for our patients or for our staff, and we apologise to those who are in those environments. Our staff are working incredibly hard under tremendous pressure, and we are very grateful to them for what they do. 

“There is much more to do on corridor care but there is no quick fix. We are listening and we are doing everything we can to make it better. We have introduced a new General Internal Medicine ward, and we are seeing positive outcomes from a programme of work to reduce length of stay.  At times of pressure, staff move to support teams in the Emergency Department, and we having open and honest conversations with colleagues, at Board level and with regulators.

“It is heartening to hear that despite the challenges, patients told the CQC that they were positive about our staff, and that the inspectors saw a positive culture where staff worked together and supported each other.”   

The actions we are taking to improve

NUH is also working closely with partners to find better ways to support patients before they get to our hospitals, recognising that many of our partners are also under significant pressure.  The Trust is launching a new frailty pathway pilot, working with EMAS to identify additional support needed for elderly and frail patients before they need to come to the Emergency Department.

The Trust has responded directly to the CQC following their report and actions.  As well as the ongoing work to address corridor care:  

• After the initial inspection the CQC identified that not all medicine storage complied with regulations.  Following the concerns raised, pharmacy staff immediately checked all wards visited by the inspection team and took action to order replacement cupboards.  The Trust was able to demonstrate the action taken when the CQC revisited the site again two weeks after the initial inspection.  
• We are in the process of reviewing mandatory training in the Emergency Department with a view to improving compliance.
• The CQC fed back that unlocked computers had been left unattended. The Trust has tightened up the time period when unattended devices are locked, to reduce the risk of breach of confidentiality. There is also work underway to look at hardware solutions which will help staff balance risk of breaches against the need for rapid access to support care.