Surgery services were rerated requires improvement with two warning notices following an inspection in March. 

Sarah Ivory-Donnelly, CQC deputy director of hospitals in the East of England, said: ‘When we inspected the hospital's surgery services, we found leaders hadn't always identified or addressed risks to people's safety, which undermined otherwise skilled and evidence-based care. Some staff felt trust leaders weren't listening to them and we found gaps in communication at that level.'

The inspection found shortfalls in training in areas such as resuscitation, safeguarding, medicines management, and how to reduce infection risks, and found oxygen stored unsafely with some parts of the service ‘cluttered' and unclean.

Jo Segasby, group deputy chief executive and group chief delivery officer, Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group, apologised for occasions where the service had fallen short.

She added: ‘Immediate action was taken to address concerns identified during the inspection, including issues relating to the storage of oxygen cylinders, equipment obstructing fire escape routes and infection prevention and hygiene concerns. Since the inspection in March, further work has continued to strengthen governance, oversight, training and safety processes across our surgical services.

‘The QEH has faced significant scrutiny of its surgery services in recent months. That scrutiny brings responsibility. While providing leadership support to The QEH, my focus is on ensuring we learn from these findings and deliver the improvements our patients and communities rightly expect. Ultimately, people will judge us not on today's report, but on the improvements that we make and the care they and their loved ones receive.'