A West London hospital’s Urgent and Emergency Care has been rated ‘Outstanding’ following an inspection.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital was given glowing reviews following recent inspections of several of its services by the Care Quality Commission this year.
The assessments also found its Children and Young People’s Services and End of Life care to be ‘Good’ across the board.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital serves a population of between 1 million and 1.5 million people across West London, mainly north of the river.
‘Kindness, compassion and respect’
The hospital has an overall rating of Good, although its Urgent and Emergency Care and HIV and Sexual Services are both rated as Outstanding.
At the April 2026 inspection – the report for which has just been published, emergency care staff were found to treat people with “kindness, compassion and respect”.
They were found to focus on maintaining dignity for patients, especially those from vulnerable groups or with mental health needs.
The report reads: “People described positive interactions with staff and said they felt cared for throughout their time in the department.
“Despite the pressures associated with a busy urgent and emergency care environment, staff worked to maintain a positive experience for people using the service.”
It also found that staff were quick to act when things went wrong, learning from any incidents which did occur.
The assessment, which was broken down into smaller categories, found an “outstanding standard of care” for the Urgent and Emergency Care Service in the assessment areas of ‘effectiveness’, ‘caring’ and ‘leadership’.
It said: “The evidence showed an exceptional standard. The service always planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them.”
‘Leaders and staff should be proud’
Antoinette Smith, CQC Deputy Director of Hospitals in London, said: “During our inspection of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital’s urgent and emergency care service, we found an exceptional standard of care.
Staff had a strong and open safety culture, learned from incidents and used what they learned to improve the service.
“Staff treated people and their families with compassion, kindness and respect. They listened carefully, introduced themselves and responded sensitively to people’s needs. Staff also worked well together to provide timely care.
“We also found high-quality care in end of life and children and young people’s services, where staff consistently involved people and their families in decisions about care. Staff worked across teams to deliver joined-up care and adapted services to meet people’s individual needs.
“It was encouraging to see leaders create a culture where staff felt supported to raise concerns, share learning and improve the quality of care. Leaders had a clear vision for their services and worked closely with partners to improve care for people across North West London.
“The trust also demonstrated a commitment to innovation. Staff introduced new ways of working to improve people’s experience of care and looked for opportunities to strengthen services through learning, collaboration and continuous improvement.
“Leaders and staff across all three services should be proud of these findings. We will continue to monitor the trust and look forward to seeing these high standards maintained and built upon.”
As part of inspectors’ assessment of the ‘Good’ standard of care in End of Life Services, they noted that ‘Butterfly’ volunteers provided companionship and emotional support to people receiving end of life care and their families.
The trust also achieved gold standard accreditation for end of life care across several wards.
It introduced Martha’s Rule early, giving all North West London hospital sites access to paediatric intensive care expertise for a second opinion at no additional cost.
