Local Hospitals "Require Improvement"

16 May 2019, 05:36

The Morecambe Bay NHS Trust "requires improvement".

It's lost its previous 'good' rating from inspectors, who found problems with safety, responsiveness and leadership.

No problems with the levels of care though, with staff noted for their "compassion" and "kindness".

The Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said: “It is disappointing to see this trust return to a rating of Requires Improvement, although I note the staff are doing everything they can to care for patients in a respectful and compassionate manner, often working under significant pressure.

“Inspectors did see some outstanding practice including the improvements in working arrangements in Westmorland’s cardiac unit, the helpful visual and technological advances at Royal Lancaster and the supportive culture in Furness General.

“That being said, it is concerning that the three hospitals’ urgent and emergency services were presenting significant challenges and some of the quality improvements across the trust have not been sustained. The trust has worked very hard in recent years to bring its performance up to standard and it needs to do that again now."

UHMBT CEO Aaron Cummins responded, saying they where they've got to get better: “These areas include improving the care and experience for our patients in our Emergency Departments (particularly when under pressure), improving our adherence to policies and procedures relating to documentation and checking equipment, continued improvement in recruiting additional staff and delivering improvements in our productivity and efficiency.”

He also commented on the challenges our local hospitals face: “As a result of the current financial challenges (both local and national) our hospitals have not been sufficiently invested in over recent decades, resulting in buildings which are inefficient, overly costly to run and in some parts just not good enough for our patients or staff to have a consistently positive experience."

South Lakes MP Tim Farron said: “It’s of course very disappointing that our local hospitals trust has gone from being rated Good to being rated as Requires Improvement.

“It’s essential that the Trust immediately look to address the concerns raised by the CQC, but I have every faith that they will do this and turn things around.

“While the overall rating is disappointing, it’s important to recognise that ‘Care’ has been rated good with the CQC finding that staff treat patients with ‘compassion’ and ‘kindness’ – which is testament to the brilliant job that our local doctors and nurses do.”