The Care Quality Commission has reported good progress at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, but there is still more to be done.

After inspections in October and November 2023, the Trust has improved its overall rating from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’.

The hospitals - which are part of the the main acute trust serving both north Shropshire and mid Wales - are now rated as ‘good’ for ‘caring’.

The ‘safe’ and ‘responsive’ rankings, previously ‘inadequate’, rose to ‘requires improvement’ but the rest, namely the ‘effective’ and ‘well-led’ domains, remain with 'requires improvement' ratings.

Despite these improvements, action is still needed in some areas such as improving urgent and emergency care, patient privacy and dignity in escalation regions, improving flow and reducing waiting times.

The progress spans several key zones, notably in the Children and Young People service now labelled as 'good' across all five domains, surging up from 'inadequate'.

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The same goes for the End of Life Care services at both hospitals, now rated as 'good'.

Maternity services also revamped their ranking to 'good' with staff praised for their friendliness and helpfulness.

This report highlights an improved culture of high-quality, sustainable care coupled with an openness to feedback.

Importantly, a lasting commitment to improving the Trust with patient experience central to all efforts was recognised by the CQC.

While respectable advances have been made, the Trust must still tackle issues within urgent and emergency care services, as well as other challenges.

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Significant improvements are required across the UEC pathway to achieve a better patient experience, as both hospital sites received a blend of 'requires improvement' and 'inadequate' ratings.

The CQC also identified an understanding within the Trust regarding significant operational and financial challenges they face.

Furthermore, the need to keep pushing forward on the Trust’s improvement journey was acknowledged.

Chief executive Louise Barnett said: "We welcome the CQC inspection report.

"The report identifies the good progress happening in the Trust, but also that we need to continue our focus on improvement as we strive to deliver excellent care for all our communities."

She also added: "The report reinforces the work still to do and we will build on our progress and incorporate the learning into our approach.

"We are committed to working with and listening to feedback from our patients, communities, partners and colleagues as we enter this next phase on our improvement journey."