Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals Trust spinal unit ‘requires improvement’

SOUTHPORT hospital trust has been told it must improve after inspectors found “inadequate” leadership and a lack of security.

Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November last year.

The North West Regional Spinal Injuries Centre in Southport was downgraded to “requires improvement” amid concerns over patient safety.

The trust said it was committed to “improving care for patients”.

Patients in corridors

Across Southport and Formby Hospital, CQC inspectors found patients’ records were not securely stored, presenting a “risk to patients”.

And staff “did not follow the trust’s infection control policy” in relation to nursing patients with communicable diseases.

In the spinal unit, inspectors found “a lack of security” where “people who had no business in the unit could freely gain access to all areas”.

Areas “were not visibly clean” and “patient details were left open on computer screens”, inspectors noted.

Elsewhere, the children’s emergency department at Ormskirk and District General Hospital retained its rating of “good”.

Patient safety was a high priority in the department, inspectors noted and mandatory training for nursing staff had improved.

Key findings

• Trust’s overall rating unchanged as” requires improvement”
• Leadership rated “inadequate”
• Care, effectiveness and responsiveness remain “good”
• Spinal unit downgraded to “requires improvement”
• Inspection found concerns over security, cleanliness and infection policy
• Leadership at the unit had “no clear vision”
• The children’s emergency department is “good”
• Mandatory nursing training levels have improved

Ellen Armistead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said the unit’s downgrading was “very disappointing” and its leadership “required improvement”.

“The service did not have a vision for what it wanted to achieve,” she said.

Sheila Lloyd, an executive director at the trust, said inspectors “recognised the effect” of “not having an established trust leadership team” for two years.

She said a new chief executive, Silas Nicholls, will take over in April “as an anchor for stability.”

In 2016, the trust’s chief executive was sacked and the former human resources director resigned after being suspended following whistleblowing complaints.