An inspection of Watford General by an independent regulator has found staff are affected by a high level of vacancies but patient care is "kind and compassionate".

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report published today revealed the hospital's safeguarding procedures "were not robust" and that nurse staffing levels were affected by the high level of staff vacancies.

In particular the report noted that, despite on-going recruitment, significant pressures on staff were evident in the maternity service.

In addition, mandatory training for staff was below the trust's targets.

But improvements in record keeping had been made since a previous inspection, infection controls were effective and staff were found to be "very kind and compassionate" in their approach to patient care.

Inspectors, who spoke to staff and patients at the hospital during the visit in November, also found patient care and treatment was not always meeting their needs.

The report said: "Overall mortality rates for the trust had improved and there was some evidence of review of care pathways to give improved outcomes for patients.

"We found poor nursing care planning in some instances and the care and treatment given to patients was not always meeting their needs.

"The trust was behind trajectory for staff appraisals at the time of the inspection and most staff did not receive formal supervision on a regular basis."

The report highlighted that variable levels of staff were understanding and recording patients' mental capacity to make decisions.

But inspectors also praised staff for their "very kind and compassionate" approach to patient care.

The report said: "Overall, staff were very kind and compassionate in their approach to patient care and the hospital was seeking meaningful feedback from patients and their advocates. Patients' dignity was respected.

"Whilst the trust had made significant improvements in its governance and risk management processes, we found it was not yet fully embedded throughout the staff team at the hospital.

"A series of patient safety initiatives had been implemented to address the concerns we had found at our last inspection, these initiatives were in use at the time of the inspection."