The health watchdog is visiting troubled Medway Maritime Hospital today for its latest inspection.

The Care Quality Commission will spend two days at the Gillingham hospital assessing whether the hospital is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The last interim inspection by the CQC, in March this year, said the hospital was safer and making progress, but had to remain in special measures.

The last full inspection was in August and September last year and the report was published in January.

The trust was given six months to make improvements but warned it was the “last chance saloon” - if improvements were not made, it could be taken over by another trust.

But Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said significant improvements have been made.

She said: “The inspection is an exciting opportunity for the Trust and we look forward to welcoming the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to Medway. Our staff should be proud of the excellent work that they do and this is a great opportunity to be positive and showcase the work being carried out on a daily basis to care for our patients.

“We have reached some significant milestones since the publication of our CQC report in January. The hospital is safer and more responsive to the needs of our patients. We have also achieved a significant reduction in our patient mortality rate – meaning more patients are now surviving than they did before.

“These two days are absolutely critical for the future of this fantastic organisation. We need to demonstrate to the CQC that we have made sustainable improvements to the care we provide to the people of Kent and Medway.

“I am confident that the CQC will recognise the improvements we have made and that we will finally become a Trust that is no longer in special measures.”

The Trust said improvements have included:

• The average length of stay on the wards has gone down from 11 days to less than three.
• More staff in the emergency department – nursing vacancies have reduced from 60% to 17%.
• Around 55% of ambulance patients are seen within 15 minutes
• A reduction in mortality rates.

Earlier this month the Care Quality Commission asked for patients views about their experiences and “listening” events have been held in the hospital foyer to get feedback from patients, visitors and staff.