Kingston Hospital's chief executive says she accepts the critical judgment on patient care of Care Quality Commission inspectors (CQC).

The hospital failed a key patient care and safety standard in its medical wards after a surprise visit in July, the CQC announced today. 

Patients left stranded by NHS transport failing to arrive, and sweltering wards in this summer’s heatwave, contributed to the failure.

Kate Grimes, the hospital's chief executive, said: “I am pleased that the CQC found that the majority of care we provide is of a high standard, but their judgement around the standard – care and welfare of people who use our service – is a fair one.

"I can assure our patients and the local community that we are working very hard to address the issues raised as we want the care on our medical wards to consistently be the same high quality across all parts of the hospital.

"I am confident we can resolve the issues quickly."

Ms Grimes said the hospital was well aware there were problems with the temperatures in the Esher wing where medical wards are located.

She said: “Replacing the windows is very expensive and so we are looking at installing blinds that help to keep heat out in the summer and heat in during winter as we want patients to be as comfortable as possible.”

A hospital spokeswoman said that there had been changes in the complexity of inpatients at the hospital with 50 percent having dementia, which she said was double the national average, creating extra challenges for the wards in the last few years.

The hospital is recruiting extra staff and changing the way it runs wards, she said.