Trust drops from ‘outstanding’ to ‘requires improvement’

A hospital trust’s leadership has been rated “requires improvement” by the Care Quality Commission and accused of “excessive scrutiny” of staff.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust’s well-led rating has been downgraded from “outstanding”, which was issued in May 2021, along with an “outstanding” overall trust rating.

These were both displayed on the CQC’s page for the trust, despite its main hospital (East Surrey Healthcare) being downgraded to “requires improvement” overall last year. Medical care was rated “requires improvement” last year (also down from “outstanding”), and maternity was judged as “requires improvement” in 2023.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 29 July 2026