THE body that represents patients in Worcestershire has labelled news that the county's hospitals have been rated inadequate and placed in special measures as "very disappointing".

Healthwatch Worcestershire has reacted to the publication of a damning Care Quality Commission report into "serious problems" at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Peter Pinfield, chairman of Healthwatch Worcestershire, said: "Our over-riding concern is to ensure that safe services are provided to Worcestershire’s communities.

"I am therefore pleased to see this report published as it is now nearly four months since the CQC inspection took place.

"Whilst the CQC’s overall judgement on quality of service is very disappointing and there are 28 improvements listed in the report, I recognise that the commission’s inspectors found some outstanding practice, that the report is a snapshot in time as services were found to be in July, and that the trust has been improving services since the risk summit was held in March.”

Healthwatch Worcestershire has attended a number of meetings led by the NHS Trust Development Authority - the body tasked with supporting the county's hospitals to improve - and witnessed the acute trust being held to account for its progress in delivering a patient care improvement plan.

Mr Pinfield added: “It’s fair to say that the acute trust has got on with improving patient safety since the summit and CQC inspection - and there have been significant changes.

"However patients need to know when all 28 improvements referred to in the report will be in place.

"It appears that some of those improvements will only be delivered when our doctors can agree on the future configuration of hospital services in Worcestershire.

"The report makes it clear we need a solution that works for Worcestershire and we need it now.”

The Care Quality Commission report, which was published on Wednesday (December 2), graded the trust inadequate for safety and leadership and requires improvement for effectiveness and responsiveness, resulting in an overall classification of inadequate.

An over-reliance on temporary staff and locum doctors, insufficient consultant cover, overcrowding at A&E and a lack of learning from incidents were listed as particular concerns in the report.

Both Worcestershire Royal Hospital and Alexandra Hospital in Redditch were graded as inadequate and Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre was classified as in-need of improvement.

But staff were described by inspectors as “compassionate and kind” while outstanding ratings for care were achieved in the maternity and gynaecology departments.