Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital to come out of special measures

One of the East of England's main hospitals is to come out of special measures after inspectors found care standards had improved.

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital was rated inadequate in June 2018, and requiring improvement in May.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it had seen progress in surgery, end-of-life, emergency and outpatient care.

The trust was given an overall rating of "requires improvement", and was rated good for being caring.

The CQC has recommended to NHS Improvement that the trust be removed from special measures, once a support package has been agreed.

Inspectors visited between 10 December and 15 January and rated the trust as requiring improvement for being safe, responsive, well-led, and for its use of resources.

End-of-life care was deemed outstanding, and outpatient care was good, as was its overall rating for being effective.

Prof Ted Baker, chief inspector of hospitals, said: "We saw excellent multi-disciplinary working in most areas we inspected.

"Patient care was the clear focus of staff discussions and leadership across services was much stronger with teams being clearly sighted on their challenges and risks."

However, Prof Baker said "pockets of poor culture persisted" in some services, and staff felt under pressure, meaning they "were not always able to offer the care which they would like to".

He said the CQC's focus would be to support the trust through the Covid-19 pandemic, during which it will be the Eastern region's surge centre.

Hospital chief executive Sam Higginson said: "We're very pleased that [the report] recognises the sustained and significant improvements that our fantastic staff have made in patient care here.

"Teams across the whole trust have worked tirelessly with skill and dedication to continuously improve and develop services."