Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to address the staffing breaches identified by the Care Quality Commission.

Following an inspection of urgent and emergency services at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in November 2025, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shared its findings with Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The trust knows where improvements must be made, and where there is good practice to build on.

CQC has upgraded the ratings for ‘safe’ from inadequate to requires improvement. Trust leaders are aware they need to make sure there are enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to always keep people safe and have submitted an action plan in August which is currently being reviewed by CQC.

CQC will be monitoring the trust’s progress against the action plan at regular engagement meetings.