Trust’s urgent and emergency care services maintain ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ ratings from CQC

Urgent and emergency care services at St Thomas’ Hospital and Guy’s Hospital have maintained their ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ ratings respectively, following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The inspection, carried out in March 2026, also found both sites’ services had made significant progress in the ‘caring’ category, with each of their ratings in this area upgraded from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’. 

St Thomas’ Hospital’s urgent and emergency care services, which includes an adult's emergency department, Evelina London children's emergency department and an urgent treatment centre, maintained its ‘outstanding’ rating overall. CQC inspectors also renewed their ‘outstanding’ rating for the site’s services being responsive and well-led. The CQC upgraded its rating for the services being caring from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ and again rated them ‘good’ for being safe and effective.

Guy’s Hospital does not have an emergency department but operates an urgent care centre which provides walk-in care for adults and children with minor illnesses and injuries. The CQC again rated Guy’s urgent care service as ‘good’ for being safe, responsive and well-led, and upgraded its rating for being caring from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’. Inspectors also rated the service as ‘good’ for being effective, which was not previously rated.

Both Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals as a whole remain rated ‘good’ by the CQC.

Dr Katherine Henderson, Clinical Director of Adult’s Urgent and Emergency Care at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “We are extremely proud of this latest report and ratings from the CQC, and I would like to thank the inspectors for their encouraging comments and thoughtful insights.

“The ratings we have achieved are a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our staff, both clinical and non-clinical, working in these services and supporting patients.

“I am particularly pleased that our rating for being caring has been upgraded from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ at both sites. We know we do not always get everything right, but this is an example of the importance we place on continuous improvement, and ensuring our patients remain at the very centre of everything we do.”

Commenting on the inspections, CQC deputy director of hospitals in London, Antoinette Smith, said: “When we inspected the urgent and emergency care services run by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, we found most people experienced short waits, compassionate care, and positive outcomes.

“People gave us overwhelmingly positive feedback about their treatment, describing staff as reassuring, attentive and respectful. Staff listened to people and took their concerns seriously, and involved them in any decisions about their care.”

Ms Smith also praised the way staff in both services quickly assessed each patient’s needs and directed them to the most appropriate care, whether that be the dedicated GP centre at St Thomas’, urgent care for minor injuries or illnesses, or emergency care for those patients who most needed it.

Commenting on the Trust’s leadership, Ms Smith said: “Leaders invested heavily in the skills and wellbeing of their staff, which empowered them to provide people with the best care they could. They also had a clear view of their services and were actively working on further improvements.”

She added: “Everyone working for the Trust should be proud of the essential and lifesaving services they provide. We hope other services can use the examples in this report to promote improvements across the sector.”

Inspectors also found the Trust worked proactively to reduce health inequalities within its urgent and emergency care. When needed, staff could refer people to community organisations for support with issues such as trauma, domestic abuse, or getting food.

The CQC report highlighted that leaders ensured people felt safe raising concerns, including staff. They investigated when things went wrong and made changes to improve care.

Inspectors also found that some patients with mental health needs experienced long stays, due to extended waits for transfer to specialist mental health services. However, the reports noted that the Trust’s leadership was working proactively with mental health partners to address this. Measures put in place include a crisis assessment unit (CAU) which is staffed mainly by mental health professionals and accommodates patients waiting for mental health beds in a calm, therapeutic area.

The full reports for Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital have been published on the CQC's website.