Weston General Hospital rated 'inadequate' after Bristol Royal Infirmary merger

  • Watch: Robert Woolley, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust

Hospital bosses have vowed to make improvements at Weston General Hospital after it was rated as 'inadequate' more than a year after merging with the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission rated University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust - which runs the two hospitals - as 'good' overall, but said improvements must be made.

Weston General Hospital's overall rating remains 'inadequate' while the BRI went from 'outstanding' to 'good' after the unannounced inspection in June.

Inspectors found there was not enough staff to meet the needs of patients, some of the buildings were in a poor state of repair and also noted "major concerns" around the supervision of junior doctors in Weston-super-Mare.

Will the Covid-19 pandemic make this year’s flu season worse?
Pensioner waits more than a month for vital op amid nurse shortage
'We're all human' - GP speaks out as doctors 'leaving in their droves'

Concerns were also raised around the culture of trust and staff feeling confident speaking up. There were reports of a line manager telling Black Asian Minority Ethnic members of staff to use a "Western name", as they thought this would be "easier for people to pronounce."

This is the first inspection following the merger of University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust last year.

Amanda Williams, Head of Hospital Inspection at the CQC said: "Patients were being cared for in areas that weren't appropriate for them to receive care on the Western site and there were insufficient staff to provide the levels of care they needed.

"As a result those staff were working over and above to maintain safety."

  • Watch: Amanda Williams, Head of Hospital Inspection at the CQC following the report

Robert Woolley, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust said the Trust's plans for the merger back in April 2020 had to be set aside when the pandemic hit.

He said: "I accept entirely that because of the pandemic we put all of our efforts and energy into dealing with that unprecedented challenge, we haven't made the progress we wanted to make in the merger.

"Particularly getting Bristol and Weston working together collaboratively. All of that is happening, it's just happening slightly under the radar at the minute and it wasn't as evident in June when the CQC came as it is now.

"But by spring next year we'll have a single electronic patient record being used across Bristol and Weston and new leadership here at Weston.

"A lot of the things the CQC were saying we haven't progressed on we are working on, and we are committed to making this merger a success."