Great Western Hospital safety standards improved, says report

Each year over 400,000 people are seen and treated at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon

The Great Western Hospital in Swindon is meeting essential safety standards, according to the organisation that monitors its performance.

A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report said improvements had been made since a previous report criticised it for leaving patients dehydrated and for mistakes during surgery.

The hospital said it had set up an action plan to address the issues.

The CQC said it is now satisfied with improvements the hospital has made.

CQC compliance manager Karen Taylor said the public can "be assured" that they will get safe care at the hospital.

Improvements to surgery procedures include greater communication among staff, rigid equipment inspection and a series of checklists adhered to in order to eliminate mistakes.

To address the issue of patient dehydration, the hospital has installed prominent information boards on wards and carries out greater monitoring of patient's fluid intake and output.

Chief nurse at the hospital, Hilary Walker, said: "We've undertaken a vast amount of really important work, and we're very confident now that things have improved significantly."

Each year more than 400,000 people are seen and treated at the Great Western Hospital.