Cambridgeshire urgent healthcare affected by staff shortages - CQC

More than 20 inspections were carried out across the area, including at Peterborough City Hospital

Staff shortages in the health sector needed be addressed to "reduce the risk of harm to people" in Cambridgeshire, a report said.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said emergency care services were "struggling to meet patient need".

The report said people did not always receive timely care and treatment, despite staff going "above and beyond".

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System said it had made improvements.

More than 20 inspections were carried out across the integrated care system, which is a partnership of the county's emergency NHS hospitals, local councils and community and voluntary health organisations.

Mandy Williams, CQC's director of integrated care, inequalities and improvement, said: "We found staff shortages in adult social care meant people remained in hospital when they should have been discharged to respite services.

"This reduced the number of available beds elsewhere in hospitals where patients in emergency departments could be referred."

Ms Williams said leaders could improve the situation "through smarter ways of working, staff recruitment and retention, and collaboration".

"Without further management there is a risk the quality and safety of care people receive could be undermined," she said.

'Good collaboration'

The report said the pressure of staff shortages was being felt "despite many services being individually well-run and providing safe care and effective treatment to people".

"We found some good collaboration between GPs and consultants to treat people in their homes or without using urgent and emergency care," Ms Williams said.

"However, more work is needed locally to deliver system-wide solutions to ensure people consistently receive high quality, timely care and treatment in the right service for their needs."

Jan Thomas, chief executive of the integrated care system, said it had undertaken projects to "reduce ambulance waiting times" and had also invested in systems such as "virtual waiting rooms so people can wait at home rather than in hospital".

"The staffing challenges outlined in the review are something we are working collectively to tackle locally and need to be viewed in the context of national staffing shortages," she said.