Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust told it must improve

Southend Hospital is one of the three operated by the Mid and South Essex trust

Changes must be made across services at one of England's biggest NHS trusts following its first wide-ranging inspection, a health watchdog said.

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust - which runs Basildon, Southend and Broomfield hospitals - has been rated as "requires improvement".

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) turned up unannounced after concerns over standards were raised.

The trust said it was "committed to providing the very best services".

The trust was formed in April last year, as three separate hospital trusts merged, and it has a total of 15,000 staff and 1,800 inpatient beds.

Inspectors visited maternity, surgical, medical and urgent and emergency services across the hospitals between July and September.

'Enormous pressure'

Philippa Styles, the CQC's head of hospital inspection, said they "found a mixed picture" of positive improvements and areas of concern.

"Following the trust's formation in 2020, leaders should now be able to work together effectively to ensure care is consistent across all services," she said.

"I recognise the enormous pressure NHS services are under... and that usual expectations cannot always be maintained, especially in the urgent and emergency department, but it is important they do all they can to mitigate risks to patient safety."

The report said:

• Patients had not always been protected from harm

• Staff had not all received mandatory training

• There had been nine "never-should-happen" medical events

• Records were sometimes inaccurate and not kept securely

• Nursing and medical staffing was a "challenge across the trust", with shifts regularly below planned staffing numbers

• There had been a high number of whistle-blowers raising concerns

The watchdog issued a list of improvements for each department.

Basildon University Hospital was praised for monitoring Covid patients safely at home rather than admitting them

The new trust's leadership was also judged as "requiring improvement" by the CQC.

However, the watchdog classed the trust as "good" for being effective and caring.

Basildon University Hospital's rating for its maternity unit rose from "inadequate" to "requiring improvement".

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The watchdog also highlighted some "outstanding practice" at Basildon for its project to allow some emergency Covid patients to be monitored safely at home instead of being admitted to hospital.

However, Southend University Hospital's classification for its maternity service dropped from "good" to "requires improvement".

Surgery, urgent and emergency and medical services were also given the same rating.

Trust chief executive Clare Panniker said it had been the NHS's "most challenging time" ever

The trust's chief executive Clare Panniker said there were "some extremely positive findings" and wanted to "thank our extraordinary staff for continuing to provide such high quality care".

"We merged to become one of the largest trusts in the country in the middle of a global pandemic, at the most challenging time the NHS has ever known," she said.

"To be rated as good for care and for providing effective services is a real achievement.

"We are fully aware of the key issues and are continuing to address these."

Ms Panniker added the trust was trying to recruit more permanent staff, mandatory training rates had improved and it had introduced new systems and activities to boost its workplace culture and staff support.