The urgent and emergency care available to Lincolnshire residents has been rated “requires improvement” by a watchdog.
The Care Quality Commission visited the departments at Lincoln County Hospital and Boston Pilgrim Hospital after concerns about how long it was taking patients to get care, writes Local Democracy Reporter Jamie Waller.
The trust that runs the services says it is making progress in reducing waiting times but acknowledges that care didn’t always meet its standards.
Lincoln staff told inspectors that “flow into and out of the service was the main challenge they faced.
“There were long waits for beds across the department in both the majors and seated majors’ areas.”
The CQC found that hospital staff worked well with ambulance staff, were kind and compassionate, and made sure most patients’ needs were properly assessed.
However, care wasn’t always as good as it could be, and staff thought relationships needed to improve with other departments.
The inspections were carried out in July and the findings were published by the watchdog on September 4.
The hospitals’ overall ratings remain unchanged.
Professor Karen Dunderdale, group chief executive said, “Overall, we are pleased with the areas of praise and progress recognised in the two CQC reports published following their inspections of the emergency departments at Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital, Boston.
“This includes the acknowledgement of some of the great work the departments do in caring for our patients, and recognition that our staff are caring and work together to build a strong safety culture and strengthen community care. The reports also recognise that we have seen some significant improvements in performance around waiting times and leadership, as well as staff training and infection prevention.
“We do also recognise that, in some areas, the level of care we want to provide, and the experience for our patients has fallen short of what we, and our patients, would expect. We would like to reassure our patients that we have been making significant steps towards improving safety and effectiveness of our services to ensure that we can provide the best quality emergency care to the people of Lincolnshire.
“Since the inspection of Pilgrim Hospital, Boston Emergency Department in November 2024 we have opened the first phase of the new emergency department which has significantly improved the patient environment, as well as making immediate improvements in the Lincoln Emergency Department.”
Lincoln County Hospital was rated “requires improvement” at its last full inspection, and Boston Pilgrim Hospital received a “good” rating.
