INSPECTORS TODAY raised serious concerns about the way some NHS hospitals in England treat elderly people.

The watchdog Care Quality Commission said three NHS health trusts had broken the law when it came to providing older people with essential standards of care on dignity and nutrition. It also raised fears about care given by another three trusts.

The three failing to meet legal standards were Worcestershire Acute, the Royal Free, in London, and Ipswich.

The commission has published the first 12 reports from an England-wide inspection on standards of care at 100 hospitals.

Shropshire hospitals are not among the 12 and a full national report will be published in September.

However, the findings of a separate commission study – the annual inpatient survey – was being presented to the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust board and it scores the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal hospitals highly for maintaining privacy and dignity.

But the findings found that there were several areas in which the trust needed to improve, such as supporting patients with meals. A trust-wide action plan for improvements is now being developed.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust spokesman Andy Rogers said the organisation would await its report which it expects later this summer.

And Ashley Fraser, medical director at the trust, said the national inpatients survey “provided a snapshot of what patients think about their two main local hospitals”.

At the Alexandra Hospital in Worcestershire inspectors expressed “major” concerns about nutrition.

At Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, inspectors found patients left in night clothes all day and not always taken to the toilet away from where they slept.

And at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, west London, inspectors found staff did not always make sure people had enough to eat and drink.

The hospitals could face enforcement action if they do not show improvement.

Less major concerns were found at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, Homerton University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London and the Wye Valley NHS Trust.

By Iain St John