A NEW team of health officials is being brought in to help the trust that runs Barrow's hospital following accusations of poor patient care.

NHS England has ordered an independent review into University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust's trauma and orthopaedics unit.

And the results of an external investigation into urology services are due to be published soon.

A new part-time improvement director has joined the trust and a 'system improvement board' is being established that will meet once a month in an effort to help staff overcome patient care issues.

Details of the new support team were discussed by hospital trust leaders, according to a report from its board.

Two specialist colleagues - a former chief nurse and a medical director - are also joining the trust's senior leadership team to assist improvement and development.

In a report, chief executive Aaron Cummins said: "Colleagues have been working extremely hard, particularly over the past 18 months, to make improvements in a number of key areas.

"Some of these improvements are required as a result of concerns raised regarding specific and historic examples of poor care, for example, in the urology department.

"In this instance, NHS England/Improvement has commissioned Niche Health and Social Care Consulting to carry out an independent investigation, which is expected to conclude in the spring.

"In addition, the trust has also been responding to and addressing concerns that were raised about standards of care in the Trauma and Orthopaedics Services.

"Following a period of positive discussion with NHS England/Improvement (NHS E/I), I

am pleased to share that we have accepted an offer of support as we continue to deal with the ongoing pandemic, as well as a number of improvement plans that have resulted from various reviews and improvement programmes.

"It is of utmost importance that we continue to prioritise the needs of our patients and colleagues and we welcome this additional support to ensure we can accelerate the pace and scale in which our improvement work takes place."

The probe into trauma and orthopaedics care is said to follow concerns about operations carried out by a surgeon between 2011 and 2018 and pressure from MPs in the area.

The trust said it had already made improvements to its services following an internal investigation.