Poole Hospital improves but 'more work is needed'

New issues including poor infection control have been found by inspectors

Improvements have been made at a hospital where whistleblowers had raised concerns, but more work is needed according to inspectors.

Poole Hospital was given a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after an inspection last June.

In its latest report the CQC said issues raised in the warning notice had been met, but problems including poor infection control had been found.

The hospital said it accepted "more needs to be done".

The inspection in June 2018 highlighted problems with management of medicines and staff support.

It was prompted by whistleblowers' concerns and a series of mistakes including seven "never events"; incidents deemed so serious they should never happen.

The CQC said its recent follow-up visit found the trust had met the specific requirements of the warning notice, but inspectors reported further problems including poor infection control practice in operating theatres.

They found some theatre staff were not bare below the elbows and some did not always use hand hygiene gel.

They also found the temperature in one operating theatre was too cold at more than two degrees below the normal range.

Inspectors said this meant there was a "potential increased risk of infection for patients post-surgery" because blood and oxygen would flow less efficiently.

Storage of medicines had improved, inspectors said, but "some concerns remained" as they were not always stored securely.

Hospital chief executive Debbie Fleming said: "We welcome the commission's lifting of their warning notice and are pleased that improvements have been noted in a range of areas.

"Nevertheless, there are areas in which we are determined to improve further, we are clear that more needs to be done."

The CQC said: "We will continue to monitor services closely and return in the future to check on progress."