Trust warned over poor patient care at Dewsbury hospital

The trust said an action plan was in place to address the issues

A cash-strapped hospital trust has been told to improve standards of patient care at Dewsbury and District Hospital.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a formal warning to The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust following a visit last month.

Inspectors found some patients on ward two "were not being treated with dignity, respect or consideration".

Stephen Eames, the trust's interim chief executive, said he "apologised unreservedly" to affected patients.

Mr Eames added that "those responsible for the poor standards of care have been held to account" and "new leadership" had been put in place.

Inspectors visited the hospital to check on what progress had been made in relation to the hospital's maternity services.

'Call bells unanswered'

The CQC had earlier told the trust to make "urgent improvements" after a different inspection found concerns with maternity services.

During the follow-up visit, inspectors observed staff and spoke to patients.

The CQC said on ward 2, a medical ward for older people, it found some patients "were not responded to appropriately or promptly".

Inspectors said "patient call bells were observed to go unanswered for considerable periods of time (many in excess of 10 minutes).

They found "instances where people had to wait a long time to be assisted to use the toilet and relatives raised concerns about their loved ones being left incontinent for significant periods of time".

Malcolm Bower-Brown, deputy director of CQC in the North, said: "We will be returning to the hospital to follow up on progress and, when we do, we will expect the trust to be able to demonstrate it has made improvements."

Mr Eames said: "Clearly all this will be distressing news for patients currently receiving care on ward two.

"My colleagues have spoken to those patients as well as their families and carers to reassure them we are taking this seriously and we have already taken action to improve standards."

The trust said the CQC inspection was "highly complementary" about the maternity unit and discharge lounge.