East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust gets 'requires improvement' rating for second year

England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals has found improvements are still needed at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Between 23 July and 11 September 2019, a team of CQC inspectors visited services across Lister Hospital in Stevenage, QEII Hospital in Welwyn Garden City and Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood. As a result, inspectors rated the overall care provided by Trust staff to be 'requires improvement'.

The Care Quality Commission gave the Trust this rating after a 2018 inspection.

"Significant changes in leadership at various levels meant there was a lack of pace in embedding new processes and practices," Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said. "Leaders had the skills and abilities to run the trust effectively. However, there had been a significant change in the leadership team in the 12 months prior to our inspection."

The trust is also rated as 'requires improvement' for whether its services were safe, responsive and well-led. It received a 'good' rating for whether its services are effective and caring.

Professor Baker added: "Whilst it's encouraging that the trust is rated good for being effective and caring, more progress needs to be made to change the overall rating which remains unchanged."