ARROWE Park Hospital has been told it requires improvement after it failed to meet standards in all of the five areas inspected by health watchdogs.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the Upton hospital in September to check essential levels of care and safety were being met.

Inspectors spoke to patients, carers and family members during the unannounced two-day visit, as well as a number of hospital staff and found the hospital complied with standards.

Arrowe Park had previously been given a “seal of approval” by the watchdog but in a report published today, the CQC highlighted areas where the hospital has fallen short of standards.

The CQC found that, overall, the hospital failed to meet standards in:

  • Respecting and involving people who use services
  • Care and welfare of people who use services
  • Staffing
  • Assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision
  • Records

However, the inspection found that while there were "inconsistencies” in the care being delivered, nurses and support workers spoke to patients in a kind and professional manner.

David Allison, chief executive of Wirral University NHS Foundation Trust said a number of the areas “flagged for action” by the CQC were put right at the time of inspection, with other improvements also being made.

Arrowe Park Hospital has been under pressure recently and at the end of the November, told people not to attend A&E unless they had a genuine emergency.

In the report, the CQC said: “We conducted this inspection in response to a number of concerns that were reported to us relating to poor patient care and unsafe discharges.

“Specific concerns were raised that Ward 1 (surgical day case unit) was being used for patients being transferred from accident and emergency and related to unsuitable bathing facilities for a mixed sex unit.

“We raised these concerns with senior hospital management alongside concerns around shortfalls in nutritional action plans for patients and requested an investigation into the care of a patient as a result.

“We found the system in place for monitoring the care practices for patients was inadequate which puts patients at risk of not having their needs met.”

The CQC also said they “did not have confidence that quality assurance and monitoring processes were sufficiently robust to effectively assess and monitor the quality of service that people received” and said areas of ongoing work that required further improvement include the board assurance framework and the risk register.

Chief executive David Allison said he was “disappointed” by the report.

He said: “An unannounced inspection of our Trust by the Care Quality Commission less than 12 months ago found that standards in all areas of inspection were met and subsequently our trust was ranked by the CQC at the lowest level of risk in their Intelligent Monitoring Reports.

"It is therefore disappointing that this recent report highlights some areas where we have fallen short of the high standards we strive to maintain.

“The inspectors judged that in each area where a shortcoming was identified, there was a minor or moderate impact on people who use the service and that the matter could be managed or resolved quickly.”

Mr Allison added: “It was gratifying to learn from the report the many instances of positive care, respect and compassion that their inspectors witnessed. Our own feedback from patients and carers shows that the overwhelming majority of our services are safe, effective and provide a positive experience but we want to ensure that every patient receives the highest possible standard of care on every single occasion.

“The trust has been completely open and honest in its response to the CQC. We welcome the report as it has highlighted areas we need to address in order to maintain the standards we want to provide for our patients.”

If the required improvements are not made, the CQC has a range of enforcement powers which include restricting the services that a provider can offer, or, in the most serious cases, suspending or cancelling a service.

The watchdog can also issue financial penalty notices and cautions or prosecute the provider for failing to meet essential standards. 

Any regulatory decision that the CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.