1. West Country
  2. 15 updates

Care at hospital 'improved'

Health watchdogs say standards of care have improved at Weston General Hospital - just two months after it was threatened with enforcement action.

Live updates

Standards of care at West Country hospital 'improved'

Health watchdogs say standards of care have improved at Weston General Hospital, just two months after it was threatened with enforcement action.

The Care Quality Commission had issued warning notices to hospital chiefs after finding that patients were not being treated with sufficient care or respect.

The warnings came after concerns raised during a previous inspection last August appeared to have been ignored.

The Chief Executive of Weston General Hospital Nick Wood spoke to ITV News West Country:

Advertisement

Weston Hospital taking 'decisive action' after report

In a statement, Weston Area Health NHS Trust says it is taking the following steps, in response to the CQC report's findings:

· Recruitment of more permanent staff including 36.5 whole time equivalent registered nurses

· Every ward now has an executive lead, with the top team spending significant time on the wards

· Introducing a simple process that allows all staff to see the ward environment from the patient’s point of view

· Letter written to all staff this morning, reminding them of the standards expected and asking them to report anything of concern directly to the Chief Executive

Advertisement

Weston Hospital: Staff were 'shocked' by report

Weston General Hospital has released the following the statement:

Staff here were shocked by some of the findings of the CQC inspectors and we have taken immediate action to improve care. While the hospital has been under intense pressure over the winter this is not an excuse for poor standards. We have taken decisive action to rectify the situation. ... Weston is a safe hospital. The CQC found no evidence of care that put patient safety at risk and we have one of the best records on patient mortality in the country.

– Nick Wood, Chief Executive of Weston Area Health NHS Trust

Weston Hospital inspectors: we will be back

The trust has acknowledged it must recruit more nurses – but patients in hospital today are entitled to be treated in services which are safe, effective, caring, well led, and responsive to their needs, and where a service is failing on any of these grounds, action is needed. We have told the trust to show us how it will address these issues and make the necessary improvements. We will return unannounced in the near future to check that it has made those changes.

– Ian Biggs, Regional Director of CQC in the South

Inspectors: we heard too many stories of poor care

We heard too many stories of people who weren’t getting the help they needed, or whose appeals for assistance went unanswered, and who were left humiliated or simply left to wait. We were told how staff were overstretched, that assessments weren’t being made in time, records weren’t being kept properly and patients haven’t been receiving the care they need.

– Ian Biggs, Regional Director of CQC in the South
Load more updates Back to top