NHS inspectors say there is "real concern" Colchester General Hospital had not made significant improvements following its latest inspection.

The Care Quality Commission visited the hospital in April this year to see what progress had been in the wake of a damning report published in January this year.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals, has revealed he authorised a number of "enforcement actions", which can lead to penalties or prosecutions.

He has today published another scathing report on the quality of care.

He said: "Our findings did not represent the degree of improvement we would have wanted to see or the level of care people should be able to expect.

“It was a real concern significant improvements had not been made.

"I authorised urgent enforcement action be taken against the trust in respect of the emergency department streaming process and patients being cared for in the corridor area.

"I also authorised enforcement action to be taken on the surgery service in respect of ensuring safer surgery checklists are completed so patients are protected from the immediate risk of harm."

Sir Mike said he is optimistic about what will be achieved with the hospital's merger with Ipswich's hospital trust, established in May.

However, the trust faces short, more focused inspections in areas of concern.

He said: "Our inspectors are in regular contact with both the leadership at Ipswich and Colchester and we continue to monitor this situation very closely.”

The Care Quality Commission carried out the inspection to look at areas of concern from the previous inspection and to review improvements.

During the inspection it found:

  •  Concerns surrounding a bullying culture on Peldon Ward,
  •  Concerns surrounding the care of patients on Peldon Ward,
  •  A lack of clinical leadership in the emergency department and, although nursing leadership was good, doctors were disengaged in the service,
  •  The streaming process, to support the flow of patients through the Emergency Department, did not function effectively due to staff shortages.
  •  There was there was no contingency plan in place for if there was a shortage of staff.
  •  Many patients in the corridor area near the ambulance bay in the Emergency Department and still in ambulances due to the department being full.
  • A lack of recording of discussions with family and patients in end of life care
  • The completion of Do Not Attempt Resuscitation forms had not improved. Several were seen with reasons given as "Dementia".
  • Inspectors found improvements in the Emergency Assessment Unit, on Birch Ward and in the culture and levels of staff support in endoscopy.

Professor Sir Mike added: “People deserve to be treated in services which are safe, caring, effective, well-led, and responsive to their needs and this is what we look at when we carry out our inspections.

“The trust knows what it needs to do to make sustainable improvements and our inspectors will continue to monitor the trust closely; including further inspections.

“Our new strategy sets out how we’ll be making increasing use of these shorter, more focussed inspections where we have concerns – so we can go in quickly to make sure that improvements are being made and people are protected. We’ll still conduct full comprehensive inspections where necessary, but new technology and better use of information will help us target our inspections more tightly than ever to where people may be at risk of poor care.”