Meridian House in Scunthorpe rated good by CQC following improvements

Trent Cliffs, which owns Meridian House in Scunthorpe, said it was "moving forward"

A private surgery that was assessed as putting patients at "risk of harm" has since been rated good by inspectors.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said bosses of Meridian House in Scunthorpe took "immediate actions" and made "significant improvements".

Inspectors previously had "serious concerns" about the privately owned service.

Trent Cliffs, which runs Meridian House, said it wanted to become "an outstanding provider of healthcare".

During an assessment on 5 February 2024, the CQC said inspectors found there had been improvements in the management and storage of medicines, environmental and safety audits.

"At this inspection the registered manager responded positively to the concerns raised as part of the last inspection and suspension period," the CQC stated.

The health watchdog "observed all equipment, including hazardous chemicals, were stored appropriately and securely" .

The Care Quality Commission said management had "responded positively to the concerns raised" during December's inspection

Improvements were also made in the recruitment process of new workers, with all staff given mandatory training including safeguarding courses.

There was also a "robust and effective" incident reporting system. Previously the hospital had been criticised for "not managing patient safety incidents well".

Rating the entire service as good, the CQC said: "We saw that all appropriate risk assessments and policy were in place to reflect national guidance."

Trent Cliffs said: "Following a visit by the CQC in December 2023, a number of issues were raised. The hospital responded immediately, addressing all concerns, taking the necessary action to ensure the continued delivery of safe, high quality care."

It said the private consultation and treatment facility had made "positive changes" and was committed to "significantly improving the way in which care is delivered".

"This commendable achievement is providing the platform for the hospital to move forward on its journey to becoming an outstanding provider of healthcare," it added. "It will offer exemplar training programmes to UK and international clinicians and be an employer of choice for the local community."

The improvements came following an inspection in December 2023, in which the CQC saw needles sticking out of overflowing bins, disposable curtains not replaced since 2022, unemptied sanitary bins and no evidence of deep cleaning.

Inspectors had also found "reoccurring" breaches related to general infection prevention measures and a lack of sufficient equipment.

Meridian House is a private outpatient doctors' consultation and treatment centre.