THE chief inspector of hospitals in England has found that the services provided at Okehampton Community Hospital are 'good', though the NHS Trust which runs it requires improvement. England's chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, has published his first report on the quality of services provided by Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust. The community health services provided by the trust at its ten community hospitals, including Okehampton, were rated as good. Overall the trust has been judged as requiring improvement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found that the trust provided services that were effective and caring. However, improvements were needed in the safety, responsiveness and leadership of some services. Alison Diamond, chief executive of the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, said: 'There are so many areas in this report that our staff can feel proud of. The CQC inspectors recognised the caring and excellent services that our patients receive. 'We were disappointed that the overall rating had to be that we required improvement and they are areas we are taking seriously. Since July we have already worked hard to address the issues the inspectors found. We are confident that if the inspectors came back today they would find the majority of these issues had been addressed.' Okehampton Hospital was among those to receive a visit during the inspection. In the CQC report for community health services, staff were praised for being 'committed to providing a high quality service to patients' and 'demonstrated, throughout discussions and observations, that the patients were at the forefront of each visit and service'. Among aspects of Okehampton Hospital's practises that were praised in the report was the implementation of multidisciplinary team meetings attended by a combination of professionals. These included a consultant geriatrician, community matrons, community nurses, community psychiatric nurses, therapy staff from complex care, rehabilitation and rapid response teams, social workers, hospice workers, voluntary sector and GPs. The meeting reviewed patients with complex care and support needs with a purpose of ensuring their care needs were met at home, on discharge from hospital, or if they required a hospital admission. The report also mentioned that the Okehampton community nursing team was part of a pilot scheme for an electronic rostering system, which was set up to ensure an even number of staff throughout the year. Issues raised in the report included that the community nursing team at Okehampton shared an office with administration and hospice staff. This lead to an overcrowded space insufficient to allow all members of the team to work in at any one time. There was no provision for private calls or meetings, and temperatures were deemed too high for staff to work in safely. A second community nursing team based at a nearby GP surgery also did not have its own dedicated office and was unable to meet at times. Staff told inspectors that patients had complained they could not get hold of the service when needed. Concerns had been raised to senior managers by community therapy staff who were based at Okehampton Community Hospital several months before the inspection, regarding the care that had been provided to some patients in their own homes. Staff were anxious that they had not received feedback from the written report they had submitted. The newly appointed cluster manager was made aware of this situation during the inspection and took immediate steps to address the issues and feedback was given to both staff and the CQC. Staff on the minor injuries unit also stated they felt they had no guidance or leadership from their managers. CQC's chief inspector of hospitals Professor Sir Mike Richards said: 'Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust has a lot to be proud of. In particular I am very pleased to recognise the outstanding care on the medical wards, where we found high levels of patient satisfaction with the service.  'We've seen some outstanding examples of care; on one ward for instance, staff had thrown a 1940s street party for patients living with dementia. We found excellent specialist care for patients who have had a stroke or with dementia. 'Generally the trust impressed us with its forward-looking vision and services clearly focused on quality and safety. We found that the trust has a healthy, patient-focused culture with staff who feel well supported and valued. 'On a wider note, I understand that the financial challenges in the Devon healthcare economy and the uncertainties about the future provision of community services in East Devon have been taking up significant time. 'But I am optimistic.  Staff in both the acute and community services have described the culture of the trust as being open and positive.' l See story on page 5 about a series of public meetings on health services.