East Kent Hospitals emergency department 'needs improvement'

A hospital trust at the centre an inquiry over baby deaths has been told to improve its emergency department.

Inspectors found progress had been made at East Kent Hospitals since their last visit, but said there was still work to be done to improve patients' safety.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised concerns about staff shortages at the William Harvey Hospital.

The trust said it would "continue to implement changes" to help staff give the "highest standards of care".

Maternity services at the trust's two sites are to be investigated by an independent panel of medical experts following the deaths of 15 babies.

In a separate inspection of the emergency department, inspectors found a good standard of care was being provided at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

However, the CQC said improvements were needed in several areas, including leadership and safety.

Despite patients being "treated with compassion," a lack of staff at times "had an impact on the quality and safety of care of patients", Dr Nigel Acheson, of the CQC, said.

Some patients had to "wait too long for treatment", while others were not given "pain relief when they needed it", he added.

Inspectors said the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in Margate was well-led and provided good care, but also needed to improve how safe, effective and responsive it was.

Dr Acheson said mental health support and paediatric services at both hospital's emergency departments had improved.

The trust was placed in special measures between 2014 and 2017.

"We fully accept that we still have a lot of work to do to achieve the consistently high standards we want for all our patients in this very complex service," the trust said in a statement.