THE NHS trust which runs the Vale Community Hospital in Dursley has been praised by a care watchdogs following a recent inspection which found "significant improvements" had been made..

In a report published today, Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust (GCS) was rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – following the ‘requires improvement’ rating it gave in 2015.

GCS manages the county’s seven community hospitals and also runs services from Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General hospitals.

Inspectors from the CQC explored four of the trust’s core services – its emergency care, end of life care and community adults and inpatients services.

The report states: “The trust had an experienced executive and non-executive director and senior leadership team with the skills, abilities, and commitment to lead the delivery of high-quality services.

“The leadership team recognised the training needs of leaders and managers at all levels, including themselves, and worked to provide development opportunities for deputies ensuring leadership succession.”

It was also found that there was a “clear” five-year strategy in place for the trust.

Despite a number of improvements, inspectors heard from staff during the inspection that efforts to give black and ethnic minority staff more opportunities “needed to be better”.

They also found that not all staff had been fully-trained in all services and that some had also not received an appraisal on time.

Inspectors found several examples of ‘outstanding practice’ within the trust’s services including the “excellent” provision for the needs of children, the “enormous improvement” to leadership arrangements and the “well-embedded” culture of learning and improvement.

However, the report also outlines 11 areas where action must be taken to improve, including ensuring that staff comply with infection prevention measures, improving the efficiency of its X-ray facilities and making sure that patients and visitors do not have access to hazardous materials.

CQC deputy chief inspector of hospitals, Amanda Stanford, said: “Since we last inspected services at Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust in June 2015 the organisation has worked to ensure that improvements have been embedded.

"I am pleased that the trust has taken our previous inspection reports and built on them to provide improved services to the people of Gloucestershire not only in the areas of development but also areas of strength.

“The board have ensured they and their senior managers work in an open and transparent manner with a clear desire to ensure succession planning and for staff at all levels to learn and improve.

“Some concerns remain. Some black and minority ethnic (BME) staff felt the trust could do more to recognise the needs of BME staff. I know that board members recognise that work is required to improve staff diversity and equality across the trust.

“There are some areas for improvement particularly in developing a more systematic approach to training and we expect the executive team, with the support of their staff, to work on the issues on behalf of all of their patients."

Four requirement notices have been issued to the GCS and the trust must now produce a report outlining how it will tackle these.