Hospital trust handed warning notice to improve quality of care
A warning notice has been given to the NHS trust which manages hospitals in the West Midlands.
England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals has demanded Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust make urgent improvements to the quality of healthcare following an inspection in April.
The trust has been in special measures since December 2015.
The inspectors visited Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre.
They looked at areas of previous concern including the minor injuries unit at Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre.
The trust is currently rated as inadequate.
Professor Ted Baker, the chief inspector of hospitals, said: “Over the last two years Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been subject to rigorous and frequent regulatory action.
“I remain concerned that the trust has not taken sufficient action to address the requirements of our previous inspections, and patients using services continue to experience a poor level of care.
“In our recent inspections we have found there was little effective ownership of the need to establish systems to assess quality of services or to recognise, assess and mitigate risks to patient safety."
A new executive team was recently set up to improve the trust.
Mr Baker said: "It is important that they drive the necessary improvements to the safety and quality of patient care, with continued support from NHS Improvement and others. It is also clear that some of the issues the trust is struggling with can only be addressed in partnership with other agencies who have a responsibility for health services in the area.
“The trust has agreed to provide information demonstrating how specific improvements will be made. We intend to monitor this information closely and will check on these areas when we re-inspect in the near future.”
Inspectors found staff caring for patients in the corridors in the emergency department had become standard practice. Patient’s privacy, dignity and effective care remained compromised.
The number of patients in the emergency department waiting between four and 12 hours to be admitted or discharged remained consistently higher than the national average.
