King George Hospital, Barley Lane, Goodmayes

Emergency care remains a “serious concern” at the NHS Trust running King George Hospital, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report reveals today.

The health watchdog’s progress report into the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust shows improvements have been made since an investigation last year, particularly in maternity and radiology services.

Of 81 recommendations made last October, 27 have been met and 48 partly met.

But the report, published today, said the quality of care on offer at the trust is still unacceptable in some areas “particularly in accident and emergency at Queen’s Hospital, where too many people are at risk of receiving poor care.”

Matthew Trainer, the deputy director of CQC in London, said: “The direction of travel at the trust is encouraging but, as they acknowledge, they still have some way to go before they are consistently delivering the quality of care that local people are entitled to expect.”

Unannounced inspections were made to the A&E department at Queen’s Hospital, Romford; the maternity services at Queen’s and King George Hospital, Barley Lane, Goodmayes, and stroke rehabilitation and radiology services.

Under current plans, King George will lose its A&E and maternity wards, which will be incorporated into Queen’s once the trust has passed more than 70 key tests from the CQC.

The report said: “Maternity has been the greatest focus for the trust and commissioners, reflecting the level of concern identified by the CQC.

“Recent evidence suggests this has resulted in a marked reduction in the risk of poor maternity care at Queen’s Hospital.”

The Trust’s chief executive Averil Dongworth said: “I am pleased that the CQC has recognised our commitment and the progress we have made.

“We’ve made good progress, but I agree with the CQC that we still have some way to go in making improvements that can be sustained for the future.

“A huge piece of work is underway to address issues in our emergency department at Queen’s Hospital, and the early signs around this are encouraging.”

The report marks the end of CQC’s investigation into the trust.

Unannounced inspections will continue when necessary.

The trust has 14 days to outline to the CQC how it will meet the latest targets.

For more on the story and reaction to the report, see tomorrow’s Recorder.