Southend Hospital will still have to carry the "Requires Improvement" rating despite a recent favourable inspection by the CQC.

Clare Panniker, chief executive at Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “I am pleased that the CQC’s report following their inspection last year recognises and acknowledges the compassionate and caring nature of our staff. 

"Most importantly, the report demonstrates that services we provide here at Southend are caring, effective and well-led."

But she said two clinical areas, Critical Care and Maternity, were not inspected by the CQC during its recent visit and the 2016 ratings for those services contribute to the hospital's current overall rating of "Requires Improvement".

In a statement, she went on to say: “As one of the first organisations to undergo the new style ‘Well-led’ inspection, we were particularly pleased to be rated as ‘Good’ in this inspection domain.

“The report clearly identifies the progress we have made since our previous inspection in 2016 and highlights areas of outstanding practice in core services across the Trust, while also outlining the on-going improvements we shared with the CQC team before the inspection."

She finished by saying the hospital looks forward to welcoming the CQC back to reassess the services which were missed at the last inspection so that the hospital "can ensure our core and overall ratings accurately reflect an assessment of the quality of services we are providing in 2018".