Pilgrim Hospital needs to display greater improvements

On the 1st November 2011, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revealed that their latest investigation into United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has revealed that improvements have been made at the hospital, particularly to strengthen frontline management and leadership. However, the CQC feel that further progress is still required.

This latest investigation focused on the areas of concern that the Care Quality Commission raised about Pilgrim Hospital in February and June 2011.

Although the hospital has now made positive changes relating to leadership and the way it manages risk, the CQC feels that it still needs to significantly improve patient experience and staff training.

Key findings

The results of the Care Quality Commission's investigation show:

• complaints were made due to poor care and clinical errors.
• patient experience was not adequately monitored.
• dependency on locum staff resulted in cost implications.
• NHS East Midlands Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and NHS Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) failed to identify risks.
• cultural issues throughout the trust strongly hampered improvements.

The CQC have made 21 recommendations that the trust must deliver. They will monitor the trust's progress through unannounced inspections.