Hospitals trust has to improve

The Care Quality Commission has published its latest report on the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and it still ‘Requires Improvement.’

Inspectors visited Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital and Lincoln Hospital in October 2021 before giving the same rating it received in 2019.

Children’s services at the Pilgrim went up from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’ as did urgent and emergency care across the trust.

Following the previous inspection, maternity services at the Pilgrim needed improvement.

“Following a review of all the evidence from this inspection and a review of additional information provided by the trust before and following our inspection, we are satisfied that significant improvements have been made,” says the report.

A warning notice was also issued relating to the governance in children and young people’s services at the Pilgrim.

That has also been reviewed and the latest CQC inspection says ‘significant improvements’ have been made and the requirements of the notice have been met.

The trust’s overall rating was arrived at by looking at the ratings of all four hospitals within the trust.

Both the Pilgrim and Lincoln required improvement in three out of five key areas.
Louth and Grantham hospitals were both rated as ‘Good’ overall in 2018 and were not revisited as a result.

“We are really pleased that the huge effort that everyone has put into providing and improving services, particularly over the past two years, has been recognised,” said Andrew Morgan, chief executive at ULHT.

“The CQC has recognised the significant improvements we have made in the quality and safety of our services since the last inspection in 2019. They hac commented that this was particularly impressive against the COVID backdrop,” he added.

While acknowledging there had been improvements, Mr Morgan said the trust knew there were still concerns regarding the emergency department at Lincoln with delays in accessing the service.

“We are determined to take this feedback and make further significant improvements across the trust for the benefit of our staff and patients,” he added.