The Royal Sussex County Hospital requires improvement, according to government inspectors.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) delivered its verdict this morning (Friday 8 August), with accident and emergency (A&E), medical care, surgery, maternity and outpatient services all also said to require improvement.
The hospital was, however, rated good for critical care, children’s care and end of life care.
And Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, was rated good for caring and effectiveness.
Inspectors found that the flow of patients from A&E through the Royal Sussex was affecting patient care and experience in a number of different departments and wards.
As a result some patients were being treated on wards which were not specific to their condition.
The hospital trust has been working with family doctors in Brighton and Hove and neighbouring areas to try to provide better access to GP surgeries.
Bedblocking is also a problem. The CQC said: “Discharge levels were too low to always meet the demand of patients requiring admission.”
In the past year there has been almost a threefold rise in the number of elderly patients medically fit for discharge but occupying beds because there was nowhere else for them to go.
Inspectors found that staff communicated with people and supported them in a compassionate way. And patients and their families spoke highly of the care that they had received.
The CQC added: “The senior leadership of the trust were found to be visible and effective and were delivering a significant programme of change and improvement.”
The CQC also said that the trust was taking action to tackle some longstanding cultural issues, including race equality, and there were signs that progress was being made.
The trust was working on its vision, values and behaviours. Staff were aware of this and said it was making a difference.
The overwhelming majority of staff across the trust said that they were proud of the services they were delivering and of the support they received from colleagues and managers.
Inspectors also identified staffing issues, especially in medicine and surgery.
High usage of temporary staff placed pressure on staff – who were not always able to attend training sessions – and meant that patients might not always have their care needs met.
