A WATCHDOG is set to inspect a large chunk of East Lancashire’s health services.

An inspection team from the Care Quality Commission is set to tour East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT), which runs the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General, following a finding in May 2014, that the organisation ‘required improvement’. It has since been brought out of special measures.

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The CQC has returned to the Whalley-based Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust this week after a number of failings were revealed last December.

The chief inspector of hospitals is seeking views on ELHT, which also manages Accrington Victoria, and Clitheroe and Pendle’s community hospitals, in advance of the CQC tour, set to take place from October 19.

Sir Mike Richards said: “The new inspections are designed to provide people with a clear picture of the quality of the services in their local hospital, exposing poor or mediocre care, as well as highlighting the many hospitals providing good and excellent care.

“We know there is too much variation in quality – these new in-depth inspections will allow us to get a much more detailed picture of care in hospitals than ever before.”

Members of the inspection team are expected to look in detail at accident and emergency provisions, surgical care, medical care, end-of-life care and issues around governance, such as complaints or leadership.

Ever since the CQC voiced concerns regarding the overuse of physical restraint and the seclusion and segregation of patients, dirty wards, poor staffing levels and using out-of-date medication, Calderstones has ran a quality improvement board.

Several meetings have taken place over the past 10 months, resulting in a final briefing in September, where it was noted that a number of improvements had been made, though there was still some unease over staffing levels.

To contribute to the ELHT inspection, e-mail enquiries@cqc.org.uk or call 0300 616161.