The SECRETARY of State for Health visited a struggling hospital last week to congratulate staff on their efforts to improve services.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt visited Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT) last Thursday (June 23) where he praised staff at both its hospitals for their hard work.

In 2011 his predecessor Andrew Lansley decided to close BHRUT’s accident and emergency department at King George Hospital in Goodmayes, but only after both hospitals improved their care services.

During the visit to sister site, Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Mr Hunt was given a guided tour of the radiotherapy department by its leader Stuart McCaighy.

He spoke to doctors and nurses about how far the trust has come since its last Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection came back as ‘requires improvement’ in 2015.

Head of Nursing at King George Hospital Kim Perry said: "It was a great opportunity for staff to speak to him, and colleagues told me how they found him quite relaxed, which put them at ease.

"I had the chance to speak about some of the improvements we’ve made, particularly our Patient Safety Summits, where we discuss serious incidents and look at what we can learn from them, which he was quite impressed with."

The Health Secretary made a visit to the hospital’s fruit stall to pick up a few healthy snacks before thanking BRHUT staff for welcoming him.