The four rated services were: maternity, medical care (including older people's care) and services for children and young people at King's College Hospital, and maternity at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH).

Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC deputy director of hospitals in London, said: ‘Although ratings had not deteriorated, we continued to find areas of concerns.'

At King's College Hospital, inspectors found leaders hadn't addressed some long-standing safety concerns in maternity, with medical care and services for children and young people below the standard people should expect. Low staffing was found in both areas.

At PRUH's maternity services, staff weren't always consulted on changes and leaders didn't act quickly enough to manage risks.

The trust said it was taking action to ensure staff with the appropriate skills were deployed in the right areas. In maternity services, there is ongoing work to increase the visibility of leaders in the service and a local cultural change programme is underway to help ensure staff feel supported, and able to speak up.

Professor Clive Kay, chief executive at the trust, said: ‘The CQC's inspections show that, in many areas, our teams are providing high quality care, and this is clearly valued by patients, and people who use our services. Our clinical outcomes are also excellent, and this has been the case for many years.

‘However, it is also clear from the reports published today that, in some areas, we are not meeting the high standards that patients rightly expect, nor giving staff the support they need to deliver the best possible services for the communities we serve.

‘We have evidence that points to an improving culture within the organisation over the past 12 months, which is positive, but there is clearly more work to do, as we made clear to the CQC, and we will continue with our efforts to deliver improvements in this key area.'