Trust warned over poor patient care at Dewsbury hospital

A cash-strapped hospital trust has been told to improve standards of patient care at Dewsbury and District Hospital.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a formal warning to The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust following a visit last month.

Inspectors found some patients on ward 2 "were not being treated with dignity, respect or consideration".

Stephen Eames, the trust's interim chief executive, said he "apologised unreservedly" to affected patients.

The CQC said the trust had until 1 August to address concerns or "face serious consequences".

Inspectors visited the hospital to check on what progress had been made in relation to the hospital's maternity services.

The CQC had earlier told the trust to make "urgent improvements" after a different inspection found concerns with maternity services.

During the follow-up visit, inspectors observed staff and spoke to patients.

The CQC said on ward 2 it found some patients "were not responded to appropriately or promptly".

Inspectors said "patient call bells were observed to go unanswered for considerable periods of time (many in excess of 10 minutes).

They found "instances where people had to wait a long time to be assisted to use the toilet and relatives raised concerns about their loved ones being left incontinent for significant periods of time".