INSPECTORS are set to return to the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch hospitals from Tuesday.

The Care Quality Commission, which is the independent health regulator, will be starting its latest inspection, with hospital bosses hoping to build on the improvements made in 2014 following the previous year’s damning report.

Last year the hospital’s four areas in which it was told to urgently improve in 2013 were lifted and the CQC said that things were improving.

This time around chiefs will be hoping to build on last year’s improvements - although the inspection comes amid news today that three-quarters of NHS hospitals in England are not safe enough, according to the CQC.

Paula Shobbrook, director of nursing and midwifery at The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are looking forward to welcoming the CQC to The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals and sharing how the Trust is building on the improvements to services which were highlighted in our inspection in 2014.

“The inspection process provides the opportunity to demonstrate the high quality care provided by our staff to the people of our region. This includes our quality improvement programmes that are helping to improve our patient outcomes and experience.”

The CQC said that it would be looking at the quality and safety of the care provided, looking at whether services are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led.

Ahead of the inspection beginning on Tuesday, the CQC is asking for people’s experience of care to help them decide what needs to be looked at during the visit.

There are several ways to tell the CQC about your experience.

Online, visit cqc.org.uk/share-your-experience or email enquiries@cqc.org.uk.

Alternatively, write to CQC, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA or phone 03000 61 61 61.

  • THE new CQC study said that 13 per cent of hospitals are "inadequate'' for safety, while 61 per cent "require improvement''.

The report offers the fullest picture yet of the state of care across England under a new "tougher'' inspection regime headed by chief inspector of hospitals Professor Sir Mike Richards.

It includes inspections of half of hospitals in the country, but the study also found problems with safety at GP practices and nursing homes.

A quarter of GP practices or GP out-of-hours services required improvement relating to safety, alongside a third of adult social care services.

One in 10 social care facilities visited were ranked the lowest possible rating of "inadequate'' for safety.

In hospitals, inspectors found examples of "disregard for patient safety'', including inadequate record-keeping, staff not being trained properly, incomplete safety checks and medicines not being kept properly.

There was also "poor management of patients at risk of health complications'' and examples of "disregard'' for infection control.

The report said: "A major reason for failings in safety is insufficient numbers of staff and use of temporary staff.

"This is particularly prevalent in medical care departments, where key safety risks are not always recognised, patient assessments can be poorly carried out and deteriorating patients are not always recognised.''

Inspectors also reported "intense concern'' about all places of care that were regarded as inadequate.

Problems included A&E patients being left overnight on trolleys in portable units without adequate nurse assessment and an "overpowering smell of urine and mould on the walls'' in a nursing home.

Katherine Rake, chief executive of Healthwatch England, said: "Today's report from the CQC highlights that many people receive good quality health and social care, but there is still unacceptable variation in the quality of services.

"It is striking that good services operate by listening to people's experiences, responding to complaints and learning from previous mistakes, whereas less effective services often fail to do so.''

The CQC's chief executive, David Behan, said: "The health and social care sector is facing an unprecedented level of challenge - so it's encouraging that our findings show that the majority of people are receiving good or outstanding care.

"We have found dedicated staff working hard to treat people with care, compassion and dignity.

"However, we have also found a wide variation in the quality of care people receive.''