HOSPITAL chiefs were left disappointed after watchdog inspectors again rated them as requiring improvement.

But GWH directors said they had a clear improvement plan in place and wanted to get the Care Quality Commission to revisit the hospital sooner rather than later in a bid to boost their rating.

In a report, the CQC told Great Western Hospital that it must improve A&E performance. Inspectors warned of overcrowding in the emergency department and said patients were waiting too long for treatment.

Presenting the CQC report to hospital executives, chief nurse Julie Marshman pointed to the fact many departments and aspects of care at GWH had received good ratings, shown as green under the watchdog’s traffic light system.

“There was disappointment from the trust. We felt that in that whole sea of green we are still rated as requires improvement,” Ms Marshman said.

The hospital had made a significant improvement since inspectors first raised serious concerns in 2016. She pointed to improvements in ambulance waiting times, which were ahead of government targets, but still criticised by the CQC as some patients were waiting for longer than 15 minutes.

Ms Marshman said: “It really is a very, very tough inspection.

“From that example you can also understand what a challenge and difficult message it has been for staff to receive a requires improvement rating for a third time, where in the main there have been hugely significant improvements across the organisation.”

Given GWH’s latest inspection result, the CQC was expected to revisit the hospital in 12 months to check whether improvements had been made. But bosses want to get inspectors back in sooner, the chief nurse revealed: “We are pushing CQC to come sooner rather than later, because we want to turn things around at pace.

“We feel as an organisation we are absolutely on a mission and a strong drive to make sure we get a good rating next time.

“We know where we need to do the work. We have landed on a very clear and robust layer of review and support to the divisions.”

Ms Marshman praised the improvements made by the trust’s community services. The department was taken over by GWH in 2016 after the collapse of SEQOL. Last month,CQC inspectors rated the service as good.

“If they had had an inspection from the CQC before, community services would have had a rating of inadequate,” the chief nurse said.”With that information and all the work community has put in they came out of this inspection with glowing colours. It shows that when we know what we need to do and where we put in that effort we can make a difference.”