North Somerset Council Deputy Leader and executive member for health, Cllr Mike Bell, said: “I am disappointed by the results of the latest CQC inspection of University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW). Weston General Hospital staff continue to deliver good quality care to the local community and have done an amazing job supporting local residents during the Covid pandemic. However, problems identified in the inspector's report do need to be tackled.
“I’m particularly concerned about the findings that the Trust leadership had a lack of awareness of medical care at Weston General Hospital, that there was evidence of a lack of partnership working between the Bristol and Weston sites and that the leadership was not on top of some major concerns, including the supervision of junior doctors.
“These are all issues that North Somerset Council has repeatedly raised with UHBW. Our Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel has strongly challenged Trust leadership on progress and senior councillors and council officers have written to and met with management regularly to highlight local concerns about the pressures faced by Weston General Hospital.
“We are due to meet again in the next couple of weeks and will be pressing for a stronger action plan to address the weaknesses identified. I welcome and endorse the comments from the inspectors that the Trust needs more support from NHS England and the local health and care system to deliver sustainable improvements. Now must surely be the time for more resources and investment to be delivered to Weston General Hospital to enable staff and management alike to turn the page and implement the improvements I know they want to see.
“NHS staff have done an incredible job supporting our community through the Covid pandemic and it is great to see the care provided by staff at Weston highlighted and recognised by the CQC inspectors.”