Second CQC warning in a year for Leicester

The watchdog found the Leicester Royal Infirmary was failing to meet a number of essential standards. The trust was given 14 days to provide the CQC with a report on how it would improve.

The warning notice follows one in March in which the CQC highlighted major concerns over lengthy trolley waits causing “a lack of privacy and dignity”. The trust was given the all-clear in a follow-up visit.

In June, a CQC report revealed the hospital had broken the law when authorising abortions.

The latest inspection found a number of concerns including protecting patients from unsafe use of medicines, poor communication and information sharing to support staff and ineffective systems to evaluate, identify and manage risks.

Inspectors from the watchdog spent two days at the hospital in June and found medicines were not being stored securely despite an audit which raised concerns in July 2011.

In one ward inspectors found medicines “were openly accessible to unauthorised people” and fridges used to store other drugs were not locked.

In one drugs cupboard soft drinks were stored alongside medical equipment. In some cupboards intravenous fluids had been removed from their packaging but not kept separate from other drugs.

Inspectors found action plans with no timescales and a suggestions book labelled “ineffective” by one staff member. The trust’s action plan which followed its annual staff survey was the same as the one a year earlier.

Inspectors also described seeing “a number of action plans, which had no target dates for completion and were not up to date”.

Staff in the emergency department highlighted concerns over support from senior managers. The inspectors said: “Staff told us no actions were taken on the concerns raised with management and they did not receive support.”

According to the report, the hospital has received 422 formal complaints in the first quarter of the financial year, a marginal increase on the year before, with one complaint currently with the parliamentary and health service ombudsman.

Despite the issues found inspectors said patients were “complimentary” about the care they received and “most had not expressed any concerns”.

The trust’s medical director Kevin Harris said: “Following their inspection the CQC found our patients were receiving safe and appropriate care; that they were treated with respect; that their views were taken into account and that there were sufficient staff to look after them.

“We will address the issues they have raised, change what we need to change and continue to concentrate on providing safe, high quality care for our patients.”