The improvements that have been made in LUHFT’s urgent and emergency care services have been recognised by our regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which has lifted restrictions on our Emergency Departments which have been in place since 2021.

The decision follows an unannounced inspection which took place in September this year, where the CQC noted improvements at Aintree and the Royal. As this was a focused inspection, it doesn’t change the Trust or service’s overall CQC rating.  

The Section 31 restrictions were put in place following a CQC inspection in 2021.

James Sumner, Chief Executive of LUHFT, said: “I’d like to thank colleagues for their dedication, hard work and commitment to ensuring that we put patients at the heart of everything that we do in order to deliver the best care possible – this has been reflected in the improvements we have made and the CQC’s decision to lift these restrictions.

“These improvements have been made despite the significant challenges that remain in urgent and emergency care and we continue to work together with our system partners to find solutions that will improve patient flow and ease some of the pressures in our Emergency Departments, as well as continuing our work to further improve the care we provide for patients with sepsis.”

You can read the full report on the CQC website here.