HOSPITAL chiefs, governors and staff will need ‘courage’ to implement essential changes at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital in the next 11 weeks.

That was the rallying call by hospital chairman Jane Stichbury at a board of directors’ meeting yesterday in the wake of the controversial Care Quality Commission report.

In the packed meeting room, director of nursing Paula Shobbrook and chief executive Tony Spotswood outlined a detailed plan that they will enforce before March to meet the criteria set by the Care Quality Commission.

Hospital bosses stressed that the problematic wards highlighted in the damning Care Quality Commission (CQC) report were addressed immediately after the report was published in December and clear improvements have already been made.

Mrs Stichbury said: “We all need the courage to fix this, the courage to change and do things differently.

“We also need the courage to be proud of this trust and the staff who work within it.

“It’s a call to arms and we all have our part to play.”

The board heard from hospital chiefs that despite the negative parts of the CQC report, they were still encouraged by the positive feedback from patients and families and stressed that they need to move forward to resolve issues and reassure the public.

Governors heard that new sisters and senior nurses had been employed and are reassuring patients on the wards that standards are high and improvements are underway.

Chief operating officer Helen Lingham said that vast improvements were being made to the treatment of stroke patients in the Emergency Department to get more patients scanned within the hour.

She said that despite the difficulty with Christmas and New Year admissions, the discharge rates are still good despite the fact that St Leonard’s Community is closed due to norovirus, and Broadwaters Care home is closed due to flooding.

The next meeting to discuss the progress will be at 8.30am on Friday,  February 14, at Royal Bournemouth Hospital.