BOSSES at four local hospitals are bracing themselves for a critical inspection report out tomorrow.

Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust runs Fairfield, North Manchester and Royal Oldham hospitals as well Rochdale Infirmary.

Monitors from the Care Quality Commission watchdog carried out a detailed inspection of those hospitals earlier this year and are set to publish their findings.

It is understood that trust leaders are anticipating that the report will contain many criticisms and concerns, though incidents of concern happened under a previous leadership team.

Previously, there have been concerns about too many patients having to wait longer than four hours — the national target — to be treated at A&E at North Manchester and Royal Oldham.

Bury Clinical Commissioning Group, which oversees the trust's performance, has also expressed concern recently about the trust’s ability to hit 'the 12-hour target' — deciding in that time whether to discharge patients or admit them to a ward.

The trust's ability to arrange enough appointments for cancer patients within 62 days has also been questioned.

The CQC report will also consider the state of North Manchester's maternity department, which has been subject to a wide-ranging investigation since it emerged that there had been 10 mother and baby deaths in the eight months up to July 2014.

Staffing levels, staff training, patient safety, patient nutrition and cleanliness will also be covered by the report.

The CQC has told the Bury Times it is treating the publication of the report with care, and trust bosses have pledged to answer questions once the report has been published.

They say a wide range of measures have already been implemented in an attempt to raise standards.

Among them was the appointment earlier this year of chief nurse Elaine Inglesby-Burke, chief executive Sir David Dalton and chairman Jim Potter.

Mr Potter and Sir David both arrived from Salford Royal Hospital to deal with the crisis.

A trust spokesman said that, while they were treating the report seriously, patients should not be deterred from visiting A&E if they are in need.

Last month, the Bury Times reported that the Trust could soon lose control of North Manchester General Hospital in a structural shake up.

Manchester Health and Wellbeing Board has accepted a recommendation to create a single organisation within the next two years to run North Manchester with Central Manchester University Hospital and University Hospital of South Manchester.