NURSES and doctors have taken a damning report into the standard of hospital care for the elderly “very personally”.

Leaders at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust say staff have been hurt by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report into poor care at two wards in the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

Trust chairman Harry Turner, who spoke at the trust’s meeting yesterday, said: “These have been dark days for the trust. It has been difficult for everyone.”

The CQC inspectors identified a “major” risk that the basic nutritional needs of patients – food and water – were not being met. There were also moderate concerns about the privacy and dignity of patients, including the “disinterested”

and “condescending”

attitude of some staff.

Mr Turner said: “As a board and trust we accept completely that on the day of that visit we failed in basic care. We apologise to the patients, we apologise to our stakeholders and to the people of Worcestershire for doing this. We will learn lessons and make improvements that are sustainable for the future.

“We have 6,000 staff, all of whom do an exceptional job every day. I don’t believe we have a problem with our staff. I personally visit them and they are dedicated, professional and hard-working and this trust would be a poorer place without our staff. I would like to place on record our appreciation for what they do. Our staff have taken this very personally, as they should, and we’re working through it. We have to help rebuild the confidence of the people of Worcestershire as we move forward.”

The trust was selected randomly for assessment by the CQC, the national health watchdog.

Helen Blanchard, the trust’s director of nursing and midwifery, said staff were “bitterly disappointed”

by the report.

Mrs Blanchard said she had spoken to ward sisters and the matron so they understood “the enormity”

of what had been seen by CQC inspectors.

The two wards which were visited by the inspectors – five and 11 – have now been placed under special measures.

Dr Charles Ashton, the medical director, said: “We would expect staff to take responsibility for what they do and challenge others when they see things that aren’t right and could improve. This is a salutary experience for everyone but we must take it positively.”

Non-executive director Andrew Sleigh said he believed the basic problem was that the trust was not training nurses in the right way.