Countess of Chester Hospital ordered to make improvements

Inspectors previously found staffing levels and a lack of equipment posed significant risks

An under-fire hospital trust has made some improvements but more work is needed, a health watchdog has found.

Countess of Chester Hospital was previously ordered to make urgent improvements after a damning inspection found its maternity unit was unsafe.

The department was found to have a dangerous lack of staff and suitable equipment during a visit in February, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

The hospital trust said it was "committed" to make improvements.

An inspection was carried out at Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation in July to follow up on the watchdog's concerns.

Karen Knapton, CQC head of hospital inspections, said: "We saw some improvements had been made since our last inspection in February, including starting to reduce the number of people waiting for treatment from referral.

"However more work needs to be done to improve people's care and experiences."

She added the CQC would continue to monitor the trust and return to check on its progress.

"If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take action in line with our regulatory powers," she added.

The CQC noted some improvements had been made at the hospital

Services were not rated following the latest inspection, therefore maternity services and how well-led the trust is remain rated as inadequate.

The trust's overall rating remains rated as requires improvement.

The unannounced inspection in February was prompted by concerns about the quality of care in certain areas, including medical care, surgery, maternity care and urgent and emergency services, as well as leadership.

Inspectors found several failings at the maternity unit. Notably there were not enough staff with the right qualifications or skills to keep women and babies safe, or suitable equipment.

Staff morale was said to be the lowest at any NHS trust in the country, with some staff saying there was a culture of bullying and discrimination, while not all staff felt respected, supported and valued, inspectors said.

Trust chief executive Dr Susan Gilby said the trust had started to reduce the number of people waiting for treatment from referral.

She added its work to embed new board-level appointments "will help strengthen our maternity services as we look to make further progress on the implementation of our improvement plan".

"The report identifies areas for continued improvement and development at the trust, including operational governance and the rollout of the new electronic patient record system," she said.

"We are committed to making these improvements to ensure we deliver increasingly high-quality care to patients now and in the future."

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]