A major Bucks hospital has been rated as requiring improvement, after an unannounced inspection visit by a care watchdog last September found evidence of “unsafe practices”, including out-of-date medicines in the pharmacy.

Inspectors looked at Stoke Mandeville Hospital's medical care, including older people’s care, surgery and end of life care which were all rated as requiring improvement in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report.

This meant the overall rating of the hospital remained unchanged from the last inspection in 2015, which was also 'requires improvement'.

They found that staff working in theatres did not regularly change their scrubs, and observed “poor compliance” with infection control measures, including equipment which had a “layer of dust” on it.

They were also told patients often “wandered” into the linen store room which was left open, posing an “infection control risk”, and staffing shortages in the pharmacy department resulted in “reduced support to departments”.

Health bosses defended the rating, saying the report acknowledged some “tough challenges” had been tackled and improvements made since the last inspection.

Staff were praised by patients, who inspectors said were “positive” about their “caring attitude, their kindness and their compassion”.

The report said: “All patients we spoke with would recommend the service to their friends and family. This was supported by data collected for the Friends and Family Test.”

A Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust spokesman said: “The reports recognise the continued progress that the Trust has made since its last inspection in 2015, demonstrating improvements in the culture and quality of care it provides in the majority of areas inspected, though with some areas in need of improvement.”

The trust’s chief executive, Neil Dardis, said: “We welcome this latest report from the CQC. We are pleased that they acknowledge that some tough challenges have been tackled and improvements made since their last inspection.

“It is clear though that there is still more work to do and the report rightly highlighted those areas where we are not getting it right all the time for our patients and staff.

“We have an ambition to become one of the safest healthcare systems in the country and the recommendations made in these reports will help us with our ongoing quality improvement programme.

“Importantly, however, I am proud that the inspection team has once again recognised the caring and compassionate attitude of staff.

“I want to thank all staff whose hard work and dedication have made a real difference to the care and experience we provide to our communities.”