Morecambe Bay hospitals still require improvement, CQC says

The trust is responsible for a number of hospitals including the Royal Lancaster Infirmary

A hospital trust which was put into NHS England's Recovery Support Programme has improved the standard of care it provides but still requires improvement, inspectors have said.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust was put into the programme in 2021.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said Furness General Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary showed improvement.

It said the trust's new leadership team was "having a positive impact on care".

The CQC made unannounced inspections at the two hospitals in April and May, looking maternity services both sites, medical care at Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the overall leadership across the trust.

The inspections took place to assess whether the required improvements had been made and sustained following urgent conditions being imposed on the trust's registration after its previous inspection.

In 2021, the trust was placed in the recovery programme after a "significant downturn" in the quality of its services.

'Hard work and commitment'

The CQC said at the most recent inspection, medical care at Royal Lancaster Infirmary was found to have improved from inadequate to good overall, while maternity services at the hospitals were rated as requires improvement.

It said that while improvements were still needed, the trust "had a clear focus and plan on how to sustain and build on these improvements to ensure people are receiving a high standard of care".

Karen Knapton, CQC deputy director of operations in the North of England, said inspectors had been "pleased to find the new leadership team was having a positive impact on care".

"We saw all staff, not just senior leaders, were also committed to making changes for the benefit of people using services and found improvements across all of the areas we visited," she said.

"Across all services there were enough staff to care for people and keep them safe.

"They also understood how to protect people from abuse and managed safety incidents well, including investigating them and sharing learning.

"When things went wrong, staff apologised and gave people honest information and support."

She said there had been "some improvements in the culture", but more work was "needed in making it more open so people could raise concerns without fear".

However, she added that staff should be "proud of their hard work and commitment in making these improvements".