Four hospitals ordered to improve by inspectors

SALFORD Royal and three other hospitals in Greater Manchester must improve, inspectors have said after finding that services including A&E are understaffed.

- JOSEPH TIMAN

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said that staff work ‘incredibly hard under pressure’, but nurses often felt ‘unsafe’ on wards due to workforce shortages.

Emergency departments were deemed ‘overcrowded’ with patients cared for on corridors and not enough suitably qualified staff to keep them safe. Staff across all four hospitals in surgery, medical care and maternity services have not done mandatory training including in resuscitation and safeguarding.

And some staff said they did not always feel respected, supported or valued. The Northern Care Alliance (NCA) which also runs hospitals in Bury, Oldham and Rochdale has been told it ‘requires improvement’ in its first inspection.

The NCA chiefs have thanked staff for their ongoing care and commitment at a time of ‘unprecedented’ demand, but said they accept the CQC’s judgement. It comes a year after the new NHS trust was formed, following Salford Royal’s legal acquisition of the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The two trusts were previously rated outstanding and good respectively. The unannounced inspection which took place in August and September focused on services where there were risks that the CQC were aware of.