Basildon Hospital has been told they must make urgent improvements – or face heavy consequences.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has unveiled a new registration scheme covering all 378 NHS trusts in England - but said 22 - including Basildon - had improvement conditions imposed.

Seven of them, including Basildon and Thurrock, have been told to make urgent improvements.

The hospital has been told it must up care in its maternity departments, following a recent inspection by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Concerns about staff shortages, and lack of one-to-one care for women in labour were highlighted. The commission has now told the trust an action plan must be in place by the end of April.

In addition, the hospital has been told to clamp down on incidents of Legionnaire’s disease, after two confirmed cases there in Januuary.

There were previous outbreaks in 2002 and 2007. A man died in July 2007.

In March, the trust was even served an enforcement notice by the Health and Safety Executive to manage the risk of infection from Legionella. Health chiefs must now prove they are complying with the notice by August.

Alan Whittle, chief executive, of Basildon Hospital, said improvements were already being made. He added: “The recommendations made by the Nursing and Midwifery Council following its review of training arrangements were not available at the time of the registration application, as finalisation of the report was delayed until the middle of March.”