The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are an established public body that helps to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. A team of CQC inspectors was sent to visit Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital, Glenfield Hospital and St Mary’s Birth Centre in Melton Mowbray and reported that “widespread” improvements have been made since their last visit.

The CQC said that the trust between the patients and staff was of a high standard and that the chief inspector praised staff as a number of the inspectors witnessed “many examples of the trust going the extra mile.” They saw that all patients were cared for fully, especially with the many improvements that had been made for patients living with dementia.

However despite this, the CQC noted that a number of improvements are still required in Leicester’s hospitals

It reported a shortage of staff to attend to the patients in the hospitals, which meant that not all patients were kept safe whilst they were under the hospitals’ care.

It was brought to the attention of the inspectors that the hospitals’ staff “did not always assess risks to patients, act on them and keep good care records.” It was reported that the responsiveness of the hospitals requires improvement and that the safety within the hospitals will need improving.

The CQC inspectors want to ensure that measures are put into place to improve the waiting time for emergency patients and advised that patients with dementia should not be moved around during the night.

Specific improvements were set for each hospital, except for The St. Mary’s Birth Centre, based upon the findings of the CQC inspectors. At Glenfield Hospital, it was reported that the hand hygiene needed improvement and that training needed to be kept up to date. The CQC also said that staff should treat patients with more “compassion and kindness.”

It was recommended that Leicester Royal Infirmary employ more staff, as the CQC found that there was a shortage of staff compared to the number of patients under the hospital’s care. It also recommended that waiting times for treatment could be reduced by putting certain measures in place and to provide more emotional support for patients and families.

Recommended improvements for Leicester General Hospital included better management of outpatients’ and, like Glenfield hospital, to treat patients with more “compassion and kindness.” Waiting times also required improvement as they “were not always in line with national standards.”

Moosa-Duke Solicitors are specialists in medical negligence. If you are concerned about the treatment that you, or a family member, has received in any of Leicester’s hospitals, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0116 254 7456 to discuss your concerns.