Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust told to improve

Worcestershire Royal Hospital (above), Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre and Alexandra Hospital, Redditch are part of the trust

A hospital trust has been told to make significant improvements having been issued a warning notice.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the Care Quality Commission (CQC) expected improvement by 10 March.

Among possible options open to the CQC is to recommend appointing a trust special administrator to take over running the trust's three hospitals.

The trust, which has been in special measures since 2015, said it apologised for "any failings in the past".

The trust runs Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre and Alexandra Hospital, Redditch.

A spokesperson said the section 29A warning letter from the CQC was received on Friday.

In a message to staff released to the media, bosses said concerns raised related to all three main hospital sites and concerns focused around patient safety, compliance and governance.

Possible action in the future could include a trust special administrator being brought in and the trust being prosecuted, BBC Midlands Today health correspondent Michele Paduano said.

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Alexandra Hospital's in-patient paediatric ward was shut in 2016, which campaigners claimed was effectively a downgrade of accident and emergency, and neo-natal services were taken away in 2015.

The trust was placed in special measures in December 2015 by the CQC, which raised safety concerns over A&E, paediatrics, maternity and gynaecology departments.

In the message to staff, the trust said it fully accepted the CQC concerns.

It said: "As staff we must all be held accountable for our actions."