IMPROVEMENTS have been made at the county’s main hospitals since an inspection in 2015 deemed them to ‘require improvement’, the health watchdog has found.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out follow-up visits in January and February to examine whether its concerns had been acted on by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GHNHSFT).

While inspectors found that improvements had been made in some areas, there were still a number of concerns, including staff and bed shortages and the poor flow of patients through the care system.

Nine of the inspected 41 areas at Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General hospitals were boosted from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ following the inspection although the overall rating was unchanged because only some areas of care were inspected.

However “crowded” emergency departments at both hospitals which were “consistently failing” to meet the target of having 95 per cent of patients treated within four hours.

The inspector said: “Patients frequently spend too long in the emergency department because they were waiting for an inpatient bed to become available.

“Lack of patient flow within the hospital and wider community created a bottle neck in the emergency department”

While at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, “crowding meant patients frequently queued in the corridor, where they were afforded little comfort or privacy,” the inspector added.

The CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: “It is clear that Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are trying to drive forward improvements.

“The new leadership has encouraged an open culture and we found the majority of staff feel engaged with this process.

“We will continue to monitor the trust closely and return to check on their progress in due course.

“While there is still some concern regarding the trust’s urgent and emergency services and medicine, I hope that we will be able to report further improvement at our next inspection.”

Deborah Lee, GHNHSFT chief executive since June 2016, was described as “a breath of fresh air” in comments included in the report, she said she was “delighted” that the trust’s improvements had been recognised.

“I am delighted that the CQC’s latest inspection reflects the continuous focus of our staff to deliver increasingly high quality care to all of our patients,” she said.

“Importantly this independent review of our services also provides invaluable insights into where we can further improve our services.

“We have been on a journey over the last 12 months since I took up post. Clearly the winter was a very challenging period for us and this has had an impact on our performance.

“In relation to the four-hour waiting standard at A&E, while this is a wider issue than just our hospitals, we are determined to make this better for patients and we are working closely with our health and care partners to do this.”