Safety concerns persist at troubled hospital
BBCOngoing concerns regarding patient safety have been found at a hospital run by the worst performing NHS trust in England.
An assessment report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said there were also continued issues in staffing, including a shortage of nurses and non-registered workers, as well as in the leadership at Hull Royal Infirmary, which is run by Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (HUTH).
The regulator has again rated the hospital's safety as inadequate and said it still required overall improvement.
Humber Health Partnership (HHP), which runs the trust, said it accepted there were "key areas to address" and was committed to improving services.
In its latest assessment report, published on Friday, the CQC said it found "continued breaches of legal regulations in relation to staffing" due to the shortage and training.
"We found new breaches of legal regulations in relation to good governance, safe care and treatment, receiving and acting on complaints and duty of candour," the report stated.
Duty of candour ensures that health providers are open and transparent with people who use services.
The report found that while staff continued to provide compassionate care, reflected in the "good" rating for caring, there are still wider systemic issues affecting performance.
Despite efforts to improve, the hospital's overall rating has not changed from its previous assessment in 2022 when inspectors had found "concerns of unsafe staffing levels" in some services, with risks not always identified or acted upon.
The latest assessment in November looked at a sample of medical wards and units at the hospital.
In its report, the CQC said the service was "not consistently meeting the standards expected for safe, high quality and well governed care".
"Whilst there were examples of good practice and positive staff and patient experience, further work was needed to strengthen governance, improve consistency and ensure that all aspects of care met regulatory requirements."
In a statement, the HHP said the inspection focused specifically on medical care and pointed to areas of improvement.
"While we accept that we still have some key areas to address, we are encouraged that there has been an improvement which demonstrates our commitment to continuously learn and improve services for patients and their families."
The trust added changes had already been made since the inspection and it highlighted its "positive culture of learning".
"We've improved our duty of candour position and are now fully compliant with our legal requirements," said a spokeswoman.
"Our senior leadership team has also agreed an investment of more than £2m in additional nursing posts at Hull University Teaching Hospitals and an improvement plan regarding how we handle complaints is being put in place."
The CQC said it would continue to monitor progress, with future inspections expected to assess whether steps taken have addressed the concerns raised.
HUTH dropped to the bottom of NHS England's league table of acute trusts in December.
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