BASILDON Hospital has maintained its good rating following its latest inspection from the Care Quality Commission.

The hospital was taken out of special measures in June last year after receiving its first good rating, and has continued to make further improvements in the quality of care delivered to patients.

Staff were praised for their ability to handle major incidents, and their quick development through the ranks at a time when there is a national shortage of A&E staff.

Medicine management and surgery are also areas which have improved.

Clare Panniker, chief executive of the hospital, said: “We are delighted that the CQC has recognised the continued improvement of Basildon Hospital which is reflected in our ‘good’ rating.

“Since our inspection in 2014 staff have worked incredibly hard to demonstrate that the decision to take us out of special measures was justified. This report tells us that we are continuing to move in the right direction and can be proud of the high quality care we deliver to our patients.

“We cannot stand still, successful healthcare organisations always need to learn and look for ways to improve. We recognise we have more work to do – particularly in critical care – and we have already started to implement an action plan to address the areas where the inspectors said we need to perform better.”

The inspection team found that “the leadership and management of the Trust had a clear vision and a credible strategy to deliver high quality care to patients.”

Staff told inspectors that they felt encouraged to speak up and raise concerns about issues affecting patient safety so they could be addressed quickly.

The CQC found patients were treated with dignity and respect, and they felt staff were caring and listened to them.

One area rated as requiring improvement is critical care.

Hospital bosses have developed an action plan, which includes recruiting extra doctors and nurses to the unit, improving critical care training arrangements, developing the leadership team and improving how patients are managed to ensure that the right patients can access critical care unit in a timely fashion.

Ms Panniker added: “We take this feedback seriously and will be working hard to ensure we can demonstrate a marked improvement in this area when the inspectors visit next time. But make no mistake, this report once again shows local people that they have a hospital they can be proud of.”