Improvements at Morecambe Bay NHS Trust but still more to do, that's according to inspectors
They have found that general improvements have been made, but the overall rating is still "requires improvement"
The Care Quality Commission says it has found improvements in the standard of care being provided at hospitals run by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust.
It's come after inspections at both the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Furness General Hospital.
Despite that, the CQC says there is still more to do, and they have kept the trust's rating as "requiring improvement".
Following these latest inspections:
Medical care at Royal Lancaster Infirmary – has improved from inadequate to good overall, as well as for being well-led and responsive. Safe, effective and caring has gone up from requires improvement to good.
Maternity services at Royal Lancaster Infirmary – the overall rating has again been rated requires improvement, as has well-led. Safe has gone down from good to requires improvement. Being effective has improved from requires improvement to good, and caring and responsive have again been rated as good.
Maternity services at Furness General Hospital – has gone up from inadequate to requires improvement overall, as well as for being effective and well-led. Safe has been rated as requires improvement again and caring and responsive have again been rated as good.
Karen Knapton, CQC deputy director of operations, said: "“When we inspected the trust, we were pleased to find the new leadership team was having a positive impact on care. We saw all staff, not just senior leaders, were also committed to making changes for the benefit of people using services and found improvements across all of the areas we visited as a result.
“Across all services there were enough staff to care for people and keep them safe. They also understood how to protect people from abuse, and managed safety incidents well, including investigating them and sharing learning. When things went wrong, staff apologised and gave people honest information and support.
“We also saw some very positive, and important work being done to tackle health inequalities, with staff engaging with people from ethnic minority groups to find out about their experiences of accessing services in order to improve it in future."
The report highlighted that more work needs to be done in making the culture more open, so people could raise concerns without fear. However, the CQC did recognise that senior leaders were committed to addressing any outstanding issues.