I am very disappointed to see that our local hospital has been declared inadequate by inspectors. It’s anxious times for the city and the residents of Hove and Portslade because the hospital has been found to be especially lacking when it comes to patient safety in several areas of its work.

I will be having urgent meetings with the leadership of the hospital to find out how they will make the hospital safer and to oversee, on behalf of my constituents, that the action plan for improvement is implemented successfully. I see the problems very much a citywide issue, and am keen to work with everyone involved to try and bring about the improvement needed, in the quickest possible time.

Whilst the trust board was criticised for its lack of ownership to resolve the issues and inspectors said there was a “disconnect” between the board and staff we can take heart that its services for children and young people at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital were rated as outstanding.

I know that the nursing team will be really upset to read this report, because I’ve seen for myself when ‘work shadowing’ how dedicated they are to their job. This report has hopefully been a wake-up to everyone involved in the hospital and I’m confident the issues will be tackled.

It’s good to see the chair of the city’s Health and Wellbeing Board, Councillor Daniel Yates, express his support for the changes already taking place at the Trust to address the problems highlighted in the report.

For my part I will try to ensure that no stone is left unturned when looking for a solution and that a speedy recovery for our hospital is forthcoming. I will update everyone again once I have met with the NHS team as well as the inspectors.