- NHS hospital
Blackpool Victoria Hospital
Assessment report published 28 August 2026
Contents
Ratings - Urgent and emergency services
Our view of the service
Date of assessment 24 to 26 November 2025.
We carried out an unannounced assessment of urgent and emergency care to follow up on the findings of a previous inspection. We assessed the following service groups:
- Urgent and emergency care
We assessed all quality statements from the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led key questions. We looked at 22 sets of patient clinical records; we spoke with 20 patients, 8 family members or friends, and 36 members of staff.
We visited the paediatric and main emergency department and attended clinical meetings, including safety briefs, nurse handovers and ward and board rounds.
We rated urgent and emergency care as requires improvement overall.
At the last inspection the service was in breach of safe care and treatment, good governance and staffing. The service had made improvements and we found areas had improved, however there were continued breaches of staffing and good governance. There was a new breach of regulation for person-centred care.
We have requested an action plan, this will be submitted after publication of the final report.
People's experience of this service
Patients reported that communication from staff was not always consistent. Some said they were not kept informed about their care and treatment, including the reasons for being moved within the department or what they were waiting for. Feedback from patients and their families was mixed; while some felt they had received clear information about their care, treatment and next steps, others felt communication could be improved.
Despite these concerns, patients and families generally described the environment as clean and tidy. They also spoke positively about the caring and compassionate nature of staff, recognising the support provided even when the department was extremely busy and operating under significant pressure.