THE boss of beleaguered Basildon Hospital has revealed she had no idea it was being placed in special measures until it was announced on television.

Clare Panniker, the hospital’s chief executive, said the shock news meant the hospital’s management team had no time to warn staff.

She said it was only when Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was presenting the findings of the Keogh Review to Parliament last month she became aware Basildon was one of the 11 hospital trusts that would be put into special measures to meet essential standards.

Serious failures of care were identified at the hospital as part of a review into 14 trusts investigated over high death rates.

The investigation was initiated in the wake of the Francis Report, which followed an inquiry into the scandal and failings of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust earlier this year.

Mrs Panniker said she was "alarmed" when national media leaked parts of Prof Sir Bruce Keogh’s report the weekend before it was published on July 16, but she also said she had been reassured by health regulator Monitor that everything was “fine” on July 12 so the news came as a shock when she watched Mr Hunt's address on live, national television.

She said: “It was really disappointing.

I think we should have been told before s p e c i a l measures w e r e announced so we could prepare ourselves and our staff.

“For staff, it has been quite difficult.

“They are constantly being criticised, but lots of them have said it just spurs them on to want to fight harder to prove we are improving and delivering good care.

“They’re taking it as a challenge if you like, but some people felt pretty demoralised.”

The damning report by Sir Bruce identified key areas for improvement at Basildon, including better infection control, changes to out-ofhours services and better end-of-life care. It also said the hospital had in the past prioritised finances over the quality of patient care, staff worked longer shifts than they should have done and patients were frequently moved between wards without being told why.

The findings also 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.

Mrs Panniker said she is still waiting for more information about what happens next after the review.

Under plans outlined by the Government, “hit squads” were to be sent to improve problem hospitals and theywould also be paired with better performing hospital trusts to bring about improvements.

Mrs Panniker added: “It feels like we’ve moved into a new phase, but we don’t knowwhat it is.

“I await further guidance, but in the meantime we’re getting on with the changes we had already planned and looking to see what we can learn from other trusts and that’s been my approach all along.

“We want to improve, so if there are things that come out of this that help us to improve quicker, that’s fantastic.