Royal Lancaster Infirmary's medical services rated inadequate

Royal Lancaster Infirmary is rated inadequate overall

Medical care services at a Lancashire hospital have been rated inadequate.

The health watchdog carried out an unannounced inspection at Royal Lancaster Infirmary after receiving concerns about risks to patients.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found the hospital did not have enough staff to keep people safe at times, it lacked facilities and the culture was "poor".

The trust that runs the hospital said it fully accepted the findings and was already implementing improvements.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust (UHMBT) also runs Furness General Hospital and Westmorland General Hospital near Kendal.

In August, the trust was put into NHS England's new national Recovery Support Programme - the equivalent of special measures.

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The inspection at Royal Lancaster Infirmary on 2-3 August led to its medical services being downgraded from good to inadequate.

It did not change the overall rating for the hospital, which remains as requires improvement.

The report found poor leadership and an unsuitable environment with "damaged flooring, crumbling walls and broken furnishings", Karen Knapton, CQC's head of hospital inspection, said.

Staff did not always understand how to protect patients from abuse, infection risk was not controlled well and safety incidents were not always managed well, it added.

Ann Ford, the CQC's deputy chief inspector of hospitals, said there was "a poor culture" and "lack of dedicated facilities to help older people into recovery and rehabilitation".

"That is not acceptable," she said, but added that it was improving.

Jackie Bird, UHMBT's interim executive chief nurse, said: "We have already taken a number of actions, including moving one of the wards to new purpose-built facilities, enhancing the level of care offered to the patients."