The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust has pledged to provide the "very best care", after being rated as requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission.

The trust was rated as requires improvement back in 2019, and following checks by the CQC on June 20 and 21, and August 2 and 3, it has been given the same rating.

"We welcome this report from the CQC, as we do any external views on the trust," said Adam Sewell-Jones, chief executive at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust.

“We recognise the areas to improve, and for most of these work is already under way – for example creating an adult Urgent Treatment Centre at Lister which will ease the pressure in our emergency department, and fantastic progress in carrying out more operations than ever – in July we carried out 27 per cent more procedures than the same time in 2019.

"We will continue to focus on providing safe, compassionate care to our communities, and look forward to sharing further improvements over the coming months."

Theresa Murphy, chief nurse at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, added: "I join Adam in welcoming the latest inspection report from the CQC and, although there is still work to do, I am particularly pleased that the rating for our maternity service has improved.

"This improvement demonstrates the hard-work and commitment of our maternity team, colleagues across the Trust, and the Lister Maternity Voices Partnership.

"I am looking forward to working with colleagues across the Trust and our partners to deliver further improvements, ensuring we can provide the very best care which our patients expect and deserve."