"SIMPLY not good enough."
The words of Grimsby hospital's own chief executive Karen Jackson following a new report criticising care and welfare there.
As a Government team arrived for a three-day investigation into higher than expected mortality rates at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, the Care Quality Commission released damning results of its own routine inspections – revealing shortfalls that are a "real concern".
They took place, unannounced, in February at the Trust's three hospitals – Diana, Princess of Wales in Grimsby, Scunthorpe General Hospital and Goole Hospital.
The CQC found the Trust was failing to meet national standards relating to care and welfare at Grimsby and Scunthorpe and in the training and supervision of staff at all three hospitals.
In addition, Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital is failing to meet national standards relating to records.
By law, providers of care services must ensure that they are meeting all standards.
Trust chief executive Karen Jackson said: "The CQC report has highlighted some areas where action is required, which the Trust is taking seriously.
"An action plan is in place to address these issues and we have already implemented many of the actions.
"Most of the CQC's comments are around documentation and training; things we had already identified as needing improvement and which are well on the way to being compliant with CQC standards.
"Care and treatment that does not meet the CQC standards is simply not good enough. Our staff strive to provide high quality care to patients at all times, and where we fall short of this we will do everything we can to improve as quickly as possible.
"The inspectors have also acknowledged things we do well at our hospitals, such as respecting and involving patients, co-operating with other providers and cleanliness and infection control."
The CQC has told the trust it must make improvements and inspectors will return in the near future to check whether the necessary changes have been made.
Inspectors found:
Some staff had not received clinical supervision or the appropriate professional development support to enable them to be suitably skilled and confident to carry out their role.
A review of trust-wide training records showed significant gaps in staff training considered as mandatory, such as moving and handling, safeguarding of adults and children, resuscitation and infection control.
During the inspection the trust acknowledged that further work was needed to improve staff training and provided details of the actions already underway to address the shortfalls identified.
At Grimsby's Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, some patient records contained inconsistent information and in some cases there was a lack of evidence to show that care and treatment was being appropriately planned and delivered. Inspectors also found that records were not always stored securely.
At two of the hospitals inspectors found concerns with the ongoing care and treatment of some patients.
Malcolm Bower-Brown, CQC's regional director for the north, said: "The shortfalls at all three hospital sites are a real concern and we have told the provider where immediate improvements need to be made.
"We will continue to monitor the trust closely, to ensure that patients receive the service they are entitled to expect."
The report comes as the NHS review team, set up by the medical director of NHS England, Sir Bruce Keogh, is visiting the Grimsby site for three days, until tomorrow, and hosted a public "listening event" at the Grimsby Institute last night.
As reported, slight improvements have been made to mortality rates at the trust – figures which also take the hospitals in Scunthorpe and Goole into account. But, overall, they are still higher than the national average, and although this was as expected by NHS bosses, the trust is one of 14 being visited by Sir Bruce's team of experienced doctors, nurses and patient representatives.
See tomorrow's Grimsby Telegraph for coverage of the team's visit and the public event.
Share your experiences of the hospital by commenting belowEditor's Comment Grimsby's Diana Princess of Wales Hospital has come under fire yet again, with the latest report uncovering some serious concerns. There are also fresh issues over the ambulance service that covers this region. And, it would appear, the local health providers, are not alone. There was a national report out earlier this week that warned of possible hospital closures to prevent a collapse of the health service as funding shortfalls are identified. This needs grasping, and quickly by Government. While ministers, over the years, have tinkered around the edges, the service needs an injection of something different in order that it remains healthy – if that does not happen, the provision will be as sick as the patients it is trying to treat. Follow the editor on Twitter @michellelalor
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