The notice, which was issued to the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust on 21 October 2025, concerned staffing levels and systems and processes used to identify and manage risks affecting quality and safety.

A CQC spokesperson said the notice setting out some areas for improvement and the full findings from the inspection visit would be published once the standard factual accuracy and quality assurance processes were complete.

NCA chief nursing officer Juliette Cosgrove said: ‘We've taken the CQC's feedback extremely seriously and responded immediately to the issues they raised to us at the time. This included responding to their concern around surgical ward staffing levels and making sure these were at a safe level.

‘Across the NCA, we have well established processes to help wards meet safe staffing levels, for example, redeploying colleagues from another area or using the services of bank staff.

‘This year, we have recruited 175 newly qualified nurses and our nursing vacancies are currently low. We will keep a continued focus on strengthening our workforce with caring and skilled professionals.'