Leadership at hospital trust rated inadequate

The trust runs hospitals in Southend-on-Sea, Basildon and Chelmsford

Leadership at a hospital trust has been rated inadequate after staff morale was found to be among the lowest in the country.

Inspectors found "persistent" safety failures at the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and a poor behavioural culture.

It provides services to 1.2 million people at Southend, Basildon and Broomfield hospitals.

Chief executive Dawn Scrafield said: "We are deeply sorry for having failed our patients and staff. We know that they deserve better from us."

The trust's children and young people's services were criticised in September and Basildon Hospital was rated inadequate in October.

"Serious and systemic failures in leadership" had put people at risk and made staff feel undervalued, a new report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found.

Hazel Roberts is the CQC's deputy director of operations in the East of England

Hazel Roberts, from the CQC, said despite numerous improvement programmes, leaders continuously failed to deliver.

"Staff across all three hospital sites told us they felt disconnected from senior leaders, undervalued and unable to raise concerns without fear," she said.

"Many described a culture where poor behaviours went unchallenged and where financial pressures were perceived to take priority over quality and safety."

Inspectors also wrote in their report:

• Only 65% of mandatory reviews of deaths in its care were completed on time

• Staff engagement and morale were among the lowest in the country

• The trust was among the worst-performing nationally for ambulance handover delays and cancer waiting times

• A new operating model introduced in November 2024 was causing confusion about roles, responsibilities and accountability

However, Ms Roberts said the trust recognised the challenges it faced and leaders showed awareness of the improvements needed.

Basildon Hospital was downgraded from a "requires improvement" rating to "inadequate" in October

Reacting to the report, published on Wednesday, Ms Scrafield said she fully accepted its findings.

She took over from the former chief executive Matthew Hopkins in November after his retirement.

"We will ensure that the quality of our services improves at pace and will work with our staff, patients and partners to achieve this," Ms Scrafield said.

"Our new operating model will strengthen clinical leadership across the trust and equip our hospitals to deliver high quality care.

"We will support our leaders and ensure that we all work together to develop a culture of compassion, respect and excellence."