The health trust that runs the Queen’s Hospital has been told that it has to take further action to protect patients after a damning report highlighted 73 recommendations.

An investigation into Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust by the Care Quality Commission identified ‘serious failings and places requirements on the Trust to deliver fundamental and wide ranging improvements.’

The investigation into the trust which runs Queen’s Hospital in Rom Valley Way and King George Hospital in Goodmayes began in early June.

Chief Executive of the CQC Cynthia Bower sad: “We have been forcing the Trust to address issues on a short term basis- but we have real concerns about safety in the mid to longer term.

“This organisation needs to stop relying on others to tell it what’s wrong and put in place the systems and processes that will ensure care is afe-so that no one else is failed or harmed by poor care.”

Some of the key findings of the report include:

• Problems identified in maternity services included poor clinical care, a service operating in isolation, verbally abusive and unprofessional behaviour by some staff to patients and to their colleagues and a lack of learning from maternal deaths and incidents.

• Staff vacancies have been filled by agency, locum or bank staff with an impact on the quality of care.

• Trust governance systems and corporate governance are “weak”. Governance systems have recently changed, but lines of communication in the new structure are unclear and there is a risk of issues being missed.

•The trust’s response to complaints is “poor”, with a high number received each year and frequent issues with timing and quality of response.

Sixteen of the recommendations from the CQC were described as “key” – with the greatest impact on patient care – which the CQC will monitor through unannounced inspections.

The most immediate concerns were raised around maternity services, failings were also identified in emergency care and in radiology.

The report also noted some signs of improvements in recent months, but it said that patients still remained at risk of poor care in the trust.

Chief Executive of BHR Trust Chief Executive Averil Dongworth said: “We are already working to implement the recommendations in the Care Quality Commission’s report, and are taking its findings extremely seriously.

“While we are pleased that the report acknowledges that there have been positive developments at the Trust, we know that there is still a lot of work to be done.

“We will be working closely with our partners to ensure that changes are implemented as quickly as possible.

“This report marks a turning point for the Trust. We recognise that there have been failures in the past, but we are determined to continue to improve until we are among the best Trusts in the country, giving our patients the high quality care they deserve.”