A REVIEW of the new multi-million pound surgery centre at the Lister Hospital has slammed bosses for a lack of staff and proper training.

And legal action will be taken if improvements are not made, independent health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned.

The Surgicentre, run by private health firm Clinicenta, has been dogged by operation delays since opening on the Stevenage hospital site six months ago.

The CQC published a report on Wednesday revealing Clinicenta, which has a five-year contract with the NHS to carry out routine surgery, failed to meet standards in four out of five areas.

Inspectors made an unannounced visit to the Surgicentre on February 9.

They listed a series of failures including a lack of evidence that significant risks such as inadequate staffing levels and theatre efficiency were being addressed.

The CQC said procedures were not in place to escalate problems to a senior level.

“This meant that significant risks to people’s welfare that had been identified within the service had not been appropriately assessed and managed through the Lister Surgicentre’s governance arrangements,” the report said.

Senior management at Clinicenta blamed difficulties in managing and maintaining staff on the retention of employment conditions for East and North Herts NHS Trust staff seconded to the centre, which had resulted in gaps in theatre staffing and recruitment.

Other issues raised by the CQC included medical records not being shared with the NHS, a lack of appropriate levels of staffing to meet patients’ health and safety needs and a lack of training to frontline staff to meet patient welfare needs.

Andrea Gordon, CQC deputy director of operations, said the law dictates standards everyone should be able to expect.

“Providers have a duty to ensure they are compliant,” she added. “This warning sends a clear message that the owner of Lister Surgicentre needs to address this issue or face further consequences.

A spokesman for Carillion, parent company of Clinicenta, said patients could be reassured the company was compliant with the standard for care and welfare of people using the service.

He said: “We acknowledge that we need to improve in other areas and in particular in keeping documentary evidence of how we monitor the quality of the service.

“Since the inspection in February we have made significant improvements and remain committed to working with NHS Hertfordshire to deliver services to patients.”