West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has welcomed progress on plans to improve performance at Worcester’s main hospital. Inspectors who visited the hospital in May and June have now recommended lifting the ‘special measures’ tag but the Trust is still marked as ‘requiring improvement’. The care at the hospitals continues to be rated as ‘good’. Harriett has regularly met with chairman Sir David Nicholson and chief executive Matthew Hopkins as the management team developed a plan for major improvement across the Trust. The was supported by a £29 million project to improve capacity at the hospitals which has led to extra beds and improved discharge processes. Harriett commented: “I was briefed about the latest CQC inspection in the summer and we have all been eagerly awaiting this confirmation that the Trust has now been taken out of special measures. “I’ve been part of the detailed discussions with the Department for Health as we’ve offered financial and management support for the leadership team and welcomed the appointment of a new permanent chairman and chief executive. “This is testament to the hard work of staff at the three Acute hospitals in Worcester, Kidderminster and Redditch and I hope that this is a springboard to continued improvement ahead of the winter time. “I have always said that the care that patients receive is great at the hospitals but the CQC has marked the Trust down in areas like leadership and patient safety. There is still work to do but this is welcome, positive news for anyone who uses our local hospitals.”