INSPECTORS who visited Redditch's Alexandra Hospital have reported “a complete turnaround” in comparison with earlier this year, according to county NHS bosses.

Chief inspector of hospitals Professor Sir Mike Richards and a team from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the Alex, as well as Worcestershire Royal Hospital and Kidderminster Hospital last week to carry out an exhaustive, three-day inspection of services.

Although a report from the organisation following a surprise inspection of the A&E departments at the Royal and the Alex in March said the sites were being “overwhelmed” and expressed concerns about a number of issues including ambulance handover times and staffing levels, hospital bosses have said initial feedback from last week’s visit has been much more positive.

Speaking at a meeting of the board of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust – the organisation running the three sites – on Thursday, July 23, interim chief executive Chris Tidman paid tribute to staff who had helped the inspection run smoothly.

“Often people can be very anxious about this kind of inspection but while the inspectors were here there was a real buzz around the place,” he said.

“The inspectors said there was superb care around the trust and this was an organisation with a big heart.

“They said we were unrecognisable from when they came in in March. That is testament to our staff.”

Mr Tidman, filling in for chief executive Penny Venables, who has been on sick leave since April, said inspectors had particularly singled out improvements made at the A&E departments at the Royal and Alex, where there had been “a complete turnaround”.

He added the organisation is now putting together an extensive report on the trust and as part of the process will carry out a one-day unannounced visit at the three hospitals some time in the next two weeks.

But he said he felt confident staff would rise to the challenge, saying: “This is what we’re about, this is what we do.”

But despite the generally positive nature of the visit, the trust has been told to make some improvements in areas including how incidents such as falls are recorded, ensure maternity services are fully staffed and children are kept safe.

The trust has also been told to beef up night time security at Kidderminster Hospital after some staff working at the site in the early hours said they did not always feel safe.

Although the CQC’s full report will not be published until late September or early October, speaking at Thursday’s meeting trust chairman Harry Turner said he felt optimistic.

“The trust felt very different last week,” he said.

“We need to sit down and think about how we can keep that going.”

When the report is published the trust will also be given a ranking – either Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate – which it will be required to post on its website.