Royal Lancaster Infirmary

Updated 30 January 2026

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) provides hospital services
across the Morecambe Bay area - an area covering a thousand square miles in south Cumbria and
north Lancashire. It operates from three main hospitals - Furness General Hospital in Barrow, the Royal
Lancaster Infirmary and Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal.

The Royal Lancaster Infirmary has a range of general hospital services, with an emergency department,
critical/coronary care unit and various consultant-led services. It provides a range of planned care
including outpatients, diagnostics, therapies, day case and inpatient surgery.

We carried out an unannounced inspection of maternity care and urgent and emergency care at
Royal Lancaster Infirmary on 15, 16 and 17 of July 2025. Maternity care is now rated as good. Urgent and emergency is now rated as requires improvement.

The rating for these services has been combined with the ratings of the other services from previous inspections.

The rating of Royal Lancaster Infirmary is now rated as good.

The service was still in breach of the legal regulation in relation to safe care and treatment and staffing. We found that the service did not always provide safe care and treatment as we found medicines were not always managed well and the paediatric department was not secure or staffed well. Areas on the corridor used as temporary escalation spaces for patients were not always suitable due to the width of the corridor and promoting patient dignity in the emergency department.

The service was in breach of the legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment relating to medicines management in maternity care. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

The service was previously in breach of the legal regulations and improvements were found at this
assessment.

Updated 12 May 2025

We inspected the maternity service at Royal Lancaster Infirmary on 15, 16 and 17 of July 2025 to follow up concerns we identified during our last inspection of 4 and 5 April 2023. We attended to make sure the care and treatment women received had improved. At our last inspection we rated maternity services as Requires Improvement overall, Requires Improvement for Safe and Well Led and Good for Effective, Caring and Responsive. At our last inspection we identified breaches in two regulations.

We carried out a comprehensive unannounced inspection of the maternity service, looking at the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led key questions. At this inspection we identified one regulatory breach. This was of Regulation 12 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

We also inspected 2 other maternity services run by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

Royal Lancaster Infirmary provided obstetric and midwifery-led services along with community midwifery care and worked closely with Furness General Hospital and other local hospitals where women and babies with complex needs received their care. The service included pre-conceptual care, early pregnancy care, antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care. The maternity unit included an obstetric consultant-led delivery suite a combined maternity assessment centre (triage), and a ward for antenatal and postnatal care. . The birth centre had a total of 7 rooms - 4 delivery rooms, 2 assessment rooms and 1 water birth room . All birthing rooms had ensuite facilities. The postnatal ward consisted of bays of 4 beds and there were single side rooms for those who had additional clinical care needs.

In the year April 2022 to March 2023 there were a total of 1557 births at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary site.

We visited the antenatal clinic, antenatal day unit, antenatal and postnatal ward, delivery suite and obstetric theatres. We spoke with 8 women who used the service and 12 staff, including midwives, doctors, consultants and senior managers. In addition to this, we also held focus groups with breastfeeding women. We observed care and treatment, inspected several patients’ care records in each area we visited, and reviewed the trust’s audits and performance.

We refer to women in this report, but we recognise that some transgender men, non-binary people and people with variations in sex characteristics (VSC) or who are intersex may also use services and experience some of the same issues.

Updated 12 May 2025

Royal Lancaster Infirmary emergency department is based in Lancaster and part of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

We carried out an unannounced assessment of urgent and emergency services on 15, 16 and 17 July 2025 due to information of concern and to follow up enforcement actions from our previous inspection.

The service was previously in breach of the legal regulations in relation to dignity and respect, safe care and treatment and premises and equipment. Improvements were found at this assessment, but the service remains in breach of regulation.

We assessed this service using our single assessment framework and looked at all key questions and 24 quality statements.

We spoke with over 40 members of staff, 20 patients, relatives, and reviewed over 18 records to inform our judgements and rating for the service.

Since the last inspection the improvements had been made to the stroke pathway to enable people to access treatment in a more timely manner. Individual risk assessments were now undertaken when people presented at the department with poor mental health.

We found that the service did not always provide safe care and treatment relating to medicines management, paediatric staffing levels were not always safe and found shortfalls in the governance of the department. The emergency department faced challenges in managing patient flow to the wider hospital. As a result, some patients were exposed to unsafe care due to ineffective escalation procedures.

We rated the service as requires improvement overall.

The service was in breach of the legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment relating to medicines management, safe staffing and good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Updated 23 August 2023

Updated 19 March 2020

Children and young people’s services were a small proportion of hospital activity.

We previously rated this service as good in 2017. However, this inspection was a focused inspection and no new rating could be made.

Updated 9 February 2017

Following our last inspection in July 2015, we found that overall the critical care service provided at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary required improvement.

During this inspection we rated this service as 'good' overall, with 'good' ratings in safe, effective, responsive and well-led, and a rating of 'outstanding' for caring because:

• Patients were at the centre of decisions about care and treatment. The weight of positive comments gave evidence of a caring and compassionate team. Staff were positive and motivated and without exception delivered care that was kind and promoted peoples dignity, and focused on the individual needs of people.
• During our inspection we found that nurse staffing was good with sufficient staffing levels for provision of critical care. Recruitment was underway to provide a supernumerary coordinator and practice educator in line with Guidelines for the Provision of Intensive Care Services (GPICS) (2015). Supernumerary induction for new nursing staff was good with an organised approach to nurse appraisal and nursing achievement of competence in critical care skills. This was an improvement to findings in 2015 where we found that although nurse staffing levels had improved from the 2014 inspection findings, there was no supernumerary coordinator or funded practice educators in post.
• Medical staff we spoke with discussed the historical shortfalls in anaesthetic staffing levels for out of hours cover. We had noted in 2015 that the intensive care services, obstetrics, anaesthetics and emergency surgical services across the trust did not have enough anaesthetic staff to meet the required national recommendations and standards. However, this was well understood by the executive team and clinical staff. An additional five consultants at RLI and three consultants at FGH have been funded to ensure safe staffing levels and mitigate risks. A recruitment strategy was in place.
• Pharmacy cover was good at RLI and met the standards outlined in GPICS (2015) with a critical care pharmacist and senior technician support. We had reported in 2015 that medicines were not stored securely in the unit; however this had improved with provision of new storage cabinets and performance of a regular safe storage of medicines audit.
• The emergency resuscitation equipment and patient transfer bags were checked daily with a good system in place as per trust policy. There was good provision of equipment in critical care with robust systems for medical device training. The risks associated to loss of service if equipment was broken and needed replacement were on the risk register.
• The unit was visibly clean; standards of infection prevention and control were in line with trust policy. Staff we spoke with told us that isolation of patients was risk assessed and documented. Liaison with the infection control team supported assurance that patients with infections received best practice and the small proportion of patients that may need specialist ventilated isolation facilities would be transferred if required. Patients with infections were isolated as per policy, however the two isolation rooms were not designed in line with Health Building Note (HBN 04-02) and did not have ensuite shower rooms or ventilated lobby areas.
• There was on-going progress towards a harm free culture. Incident reporting was good with low incidence of harm and infection. There was a proactive approach to the assessment and management of patient-centred risks and staff took responsibility for driving improvement to reduce risk of patient harm or acute deterioration. The programme for care of patients with tracheostomy across wards was comprehensive.
• In 2015 we reported there was no Critical Care Outreach Team across both units at UHMB. The trust did not have a dedicated CCOR team and this continued to be on the risk register, however during our inspection we noted good provision of principles in line with GPICS (2015), NICE CG50 and against the seven core elements of Comprehensive Critical Care Outreach,(C3O 2011). Staff we spoke with told us that there was an ‘educational model’ of outreach embedded across the trust. We observed three occasions of a rapid response to acute emergencies by the team.
• The team in critical care services were well-led. A genuine culture of listening, learning and improvement was evident amongst all staff we spoke with. Staff we spoke with across the team were passionate about their roles and proud of the trust. The investment in leadership programmes was good and it was clear the learning was shared, staff had a shared purpose and made an impact in practice. Governance arrangements were embedded in the directorate.
• We found that ICNARC data showed that patient outcomes were comparable or better than expected when compared with other units nationally, this included unit mortality.
• Follow up clinics were in place at the RLI for critical care patients, as recommended by NICE CG83 and GPICS (2015), who had experienced a stay in critical care of longer than 4 days. Emotional support was given as part of the follow up appointment, post critical care admission and additional psychological support was assessed on an individual basis. The use of patient diaries had been embedded in practice since our last inspection.
• Patients received timely access to critical care treatment and consultant led care was delivered 24/7. A low number of critical care elective admissions were cancelled and there was a low number of readmissions to the unit. Patients were not transferred out of the unit for non-clinical reasons. Staff worked hard to not discharge patients to wards during the night with low number of out of hours discharges, comparable with other similar units.
• Over half of all discharges to ward areas were delayed beyond 4 hours due to the pressures on hospital beds, however this did not prevent the patient from receiving the care and treatment they needed and staff paid attention to patient dignity when single sex accommodation breaches occurred. ICNARC data did indicate that the unit position was comparable nationally with other units against the 8 hour reported target in the CMP.
• Staff we spoke with in critical care and theatres did not express concern about risk to patients when ‘outlier’ admissions took place and staff had not reported any incidents of harm as a consequence. This was an improved arrangement since our last inspection, with a 50% reduction in annual admissions, (from 46 to 24). Critical care training had been increased for staff in theatres. Nurse skill mix in the critical care unit was not compromised to cover the theatre recovery activity, as had been previously reported.

However:

• In 2015 we reported that the unit had limited space and during this inspection we noted again that the unit would not meet current national standards for new buildings and environment. There was an estates strategy which outlined the plans for unit upgrade and expansion. Issues around estates and environment were on the directorate risk register and had been identified as a ‘not met’ against National D16 commissioning service specifications for critical care services, during an assessment by the LSCCCN.
• We observed good compliance with hand hygiene by all nursing staff, with regular 100% audit results of compliance. However there was poor access to sinks in the unit, which did not comply with health building note HBN 00-09, (infection control in the built environment; hand hygiene facilities, clinical wash-hand basin provision).
• Patients discharged from critical care should receive a ward follow up visit by critical care nurses within 36 hours of discharge, it was reported that this could not be provided consistently by staff in the unit and was affected by activity and staffing resources. Staff we spoke with were planning improvement as part of the appointment of a supernumerary coordinator.
• We observed that physiotherapy cover in the unit did not provide enough opportunity to be involved in unit activity, deliver care to eight patients that was in line with GPICS (2015) and reduced opportunity to develop standards of patient rehabilitation in critical care.

Updated 9 February 2017

In the last inspection of Royal Lancaster Infirmary, in July 2015, we rated end of life care services as 'good'. During this inspection we rated the end of life care service as 'outstanding' because:

• The trust had clear leadership for end of life care services that was supported at a senior level within the organisation. There was active involvement strategically from the deputy chief nurse and executive leadership at board level.
• End of life care services were very well led. There was a clear vision and strategy that focused on all people are treated with dignity, respect and compassion at the end of their lives.
• We saw evidence of proactive executive involvement in terms of the development of the end of life care strategy.
• There was very good public and staff engagement
• There was a commitment by the trust and this was underpinned by staff that patients were cared for in a dignified, timely and appropriate manner
• There were examples of innovation across the service. Leading Dying Matters week, the trust had introduced death cafés with an aim to raise the profile end of life care. This included the development of the bereavement service.
• Patients were cared for holistically and there was strong evidence of spiritual and emotional support being recognised for its importance within the trust. This was apparent through the development of ‘death cafés’ where issues relating to death and dying were talked about openly.
• The staff throughout the hospital knew how to make referrals and people were appropriately referred to and assessed by the specialist palliative care team in a timely manner, therefore individual needs were met.
• Staff had access to specialist advice and support 24 hours a day from a consultant on-call team for end of life care.
• The chaplaincy and bereavement service supported families’ emotional needs when people were at the end of life, and continued to provide support afterwards.
• The mortuary was clean and well maintained, infection control risks were managed with clear reporting procedures in place.
• The bereavement palliative care service had been nominated for a compassionate care award in 2015.
• The survey of bereaved relatives results were positive in relation to dignity and respect afforded to patients.
• The trust had recently introduced a Hospital Home Care Team service, where patients could be transferred to their own homes and supported by trust staff where care packages were difficult to access in the community.
• An ‘ease of access to hospital’ group had been developed by the trust which included representation from the bereavement and chaplaincy service where initiatives were in place to improve access to the mortuary.
• DNACPR (do not attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) records were generally completed well and the trust was making use of audits and learning from incidents to drive improvements.
• Mandatory training was in place and attendance by the specialist palliative care nurses exceeded the trust target.
• The care of the dying patient (CDP) document in use throughout the trust.
• The trust had introduced EPaCCS (electronic palliative care co-ordination system). This enables recording and sharing of people’s care preferences and details about their care at the end of life.

Updated 9 February 2017

We rated this service as 'good' because:

• During our last inspection we noted that space was limited and working areas were cramped in breast and physiotherapy services. We noted this time that space remained limited in some areas and the service provision was physically constrained by the existing environment. The trust had made plans for structural and estate changes.
• During our last inspection we identified concerns with the timely availability of case notes and test results in the outpatients department. At this inspection staff and managers confirmed that the trust had reduced the use of paper records and implemented an electronic records system for most outpatient areas. This was still being rolled out across all departments but we found there had been significant improvements in the availability of case notes.
• Since the last inspection we found that there had been some improvements in staffing. CT scanning staff had previously raised concerns about shortage of staff and their access to knowledge and skills competencies. When we inspected this time the department continued to work with vacancies but a new rota system enabled the department to make improvements.
• During our last inspection we noted that there was no information available in the departments for patients who had a learning disability or written information in formats suitable for patients who had a visual impairment. We saw this time that there was a range of information available in different formats and staff had involved the public and groups including vulnerable people in producing information for use by patients.
• The service had previously experienced issues with effective team working and had challenges in building team resilience and communication. We found examples of strong local and senior leadership and staff from all departments commented on management improvements. Staff were proud of opportunities they had been involved in to drive forward service improvements and innovation.
• Outpatient and diagnostic services were delivered by caring, committed and compassionate staff.
• Patients were overwhelmingly positive about the way staff looked after them. Care was planned and delivered in a way that took account of patients’ needs and wishes. Patients attending the outpatient and diagnostic imaging departments received effective care and treatment. Care and treatment was evidence based and followed national guidance. We found that access to new appointments throughout the departments had improved.
• The Breast Screening Service at this hospital had been the subject of an external review by an independent body.  During this inspection we observed that recommendations from the review had been implemented and maintained

Updated 20 August 2021