The leader of Bexley Council has called for quick improvements to Queen Elizabeth Hospital after a report blasted the service for being unsafe for patients.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, along with Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, was told it required improvement by the Care Quality Commission, which specifically criticised the hospital for posing "significant risk" to patient safety.

End-of-life care was rated as inadequate, the worst rating the CQC hands out, with the report saying staff “did not always demonstrate a caring approach to patients and did not always maintain patients’ privacy and dignity.”

The Trust achieved the same rating three years ago following its last inspection.

Bexley Council leader, councillor Teresa O'Neill, said: "Local people rely on the services provided by the Trust - especially those at Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, Woolwich - and they deserve better.

 

"This is the second time that the CQC has raised concerns about the delivery of vital services. More needs to be done to get the basics right and turn things around – and it needs to be done quickly.”

The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust serves a population of 500,000, largely in the London Boroughs of Lewisham, Bexley and Greenwich. Its main services are provided at Lewisham Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, but it also has some outpatient clinics at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

The CQC, an independent body, said: "Patients were not always treated in a timely manner and within national access standards.

"Some patients experienced long waits in the emergency department, had their surgery cancelled and were delayed in being discharged from critical care due to a lack of available beds."

The trust has admitted it needs to improve, and has said it has already introduced a number of new measures.

These include ensuring patients coming through emergency departments are treated in a timelier manner, making sure safety checks are carried out consistently, and running major recruitment campaigns locally.

A spokesman for Bexley Council said it will continue to support the Trust to bring about the improvements needed.

The spokesman added: "The council’s innovative ‘Discharge to Assess’ service has been particularly successful in helping patients to be safely discharged with the right home support, helping to manage pressures at A&E."