BASILDON Hospital bosses are confident it will be brought out of special measures after a successful visit from the Care Quality Commission.

Thirty-nine inspectors have been in to scrutinize the hospital after the damning Keogh Review, which slammed it for high mortality rates and poor standards of care.

The findings revealed there had been seven “never events” at the hospital since 2009, which are serious incidents affecting the health or welfare of patients which should never have happened. They included surgery in the wrong place and misplaced gastric tubes.

But there have been no never events for the past eight months.

Clare Panniker, chief executive, said: “We have been preparing for this for some months.

“The inspectors gave very little feedback, but there were no concerns which were escalated, which is positive.

“They felt the visit was well organised and they were impressed by the positivity and enthusiasm of staff that was seen throughout the hospital and they were complimentary of the improvements made.”

The inspectors, made up of clinicians and members of the public, said they were impressed by the number of satisfied patients.

They also interviewed senior members of the team and held focus groups with staff, including doctors, nurses and administration teams.

Small concerns were raised about infection control, but Ms Panniker said that could be resolved quickly.

Staff also spoke of their positivity to the hospital’s board of directors, who carried out ward walkabouts this week.

Finance and resources committee chairman John Govett said: “I spoke to a senior sister who had come to Basildon from Southend and her comment was she loved working here compared to Southend, which is absolutely fantastic feedback.

“She took me to someone who had been working there longer and he said the hospital was the best it’s been in 20 years. That’s great to hear.”

The inspectors visited the hospital on Wednesday and Thursday last week