East Kent's troubled hospital trust has been partially lifted out of special measures.

Health inspectors have agreed the quality of care at its main sites in Ashford, Canterbury and Margate has significantly improved.

But regulators NHS Improvement (NHSI) say they still have serious concerns over the trust's finances.

Hospital bosses revealed they still face a £24 million deficit and the trust's purse will now be monitored by NHS Improvement's financial special measures programme.

The Trust was plunged into special measures after a damning Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2014, where it was found to be failing in almost 40 clinical areas and wrestling with a near £40 million deficit

In December last year, the CQC published a report praising widespread improvements in the quality of care patients receive.

Today NHSI agreed the recommendations of Sir Mike Richards, England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, to take the Trust out of quality special measures.

But the regulator said trust still hasn't done enough to "ensure the sustainability of their financial position".

Anne Eden, executive regional managing director for NHS Improvement, South said: "The improvements made by the trust to date, working together with NHS Improvement are great news for patients.

"The people of Kent want to be able to access high quality care quickly, and the hard work of all the staff and the current leadership team at the trust has enabled this to happen.

"However, in light of the ongoing financial challenges the trust must now demonstrate that its services are financially sustainable."

The most recent CQC inspection gave The William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, an overall rating of requires improvement but good ratings for critical care and outpatient and diagnostic imaging.

Kent and Canterbury Hospital now has no inadequate services, with urgent care, critical care, services for children and outpatient and diagnostic imaging all considered good.

The QEQM Hospital, Margate, also requires improvement overall, but medical care, critical care, services for children and young people, and outpatient and diagnostic imaging are all rated as good.

Overall the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust is still rated as requiring improvement and the CQC says it must tackle ongoing issues with recruiting skilled staff and enabling more patients to access treatment sooner.

Matthew Kershaw, chief executive of East Kent Hospitals, added: "I am delighted that the hard work and dedication of our staff, who have driven these improvements for patients over the last two years, has been recognised.

"We have made further improvements since the inspection and have plans to continue to reduce delays for patients, recruit staff and make further progress to improve services such as maternity and end of life care.

“Hand in hand with these quality improvements, we have significantly reduced our financial deficit from £35m in 2015/16 to a forecast £24m deficit this year.

"We have reduced agency spend by 11%, improved our financial position every quarter since April 2015 and are on track to deliver a much reduced deficit this year.

"We have been working closely with NHSI and will continue to do so as we are now part of its financial special measures programme."