Stoke and Stafford hospitals criticised after inspection

Stafford's County Hospital was inspected, along with the Royal Stoke University Hospital

Two hospitals have been criticised after inspectors found too few staff and flaws in reporting "near misses".

Inspectors visited Stafford's County Hospital and Royal Stoke University Hospital in October.

The trust running them said it had made "notable improvements" since a previous visit and was "disappointed" with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report.

It also said it had been "experiencing unprecedented pressures and increased staff sickness".

The inspection had been an unannounced visit.

A previous inspection, in 2021, raised concerns about staffing in urgent and emergency care at Royal Stoke, and said risk management of patients with mental health needs at County Hospital required significant improvement.

The latest visit found both hospitals had been working hard on issues but while Stoke had made enough progress around staffing, there were workforce shortfalls at County, with other concerns at both sites also highlighted.

At County, the October inspection was specifically to review the risk management of patients with mental health needs in medicine, with its rating for the medicine core service downgraded from "requires improvement" to "inadequate".

Its overall rating remains unchanged and is "requires improvement".

The CQC found of County:

• There were not enough staff to adequately support patients who required enhanced supervision to protect themselves or others.

• Not all staff had access to good information when working with patients with mental health conditions or symptoms.

• Staff did not receive structured support following incidents of violence or aggression.

Royal Stoke was not rated in the recent inspection and remains rated overall as "requires improvement".

At Royal Stoke Hospital, the CQC found:

• Staff did not always raise concerns, report incidents or near misses in line with trust policy.

• Staff said they would welcome some additional mental health training.

• People could attend when they needed but faced significant waits for care and treatment.

Craig Howarth, CQC head of hospital inspection, said the body would return to check on progress.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust's chief executive, Tracy Bullock, said: "We are committed to providing the highest standards of care delivery and are making the necessary changes in order to demonstrate that we continue to provide safe and effective care for everyone."

The trust's overall rating - "requires improvement" - remains unchanged.