Emergency patients routinely cared for in corridors – report

A FAILING hospital trust is still routinely using corridors to care for patients, the Care Quality Commission says.

Inspectors visited the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which has been in special measures since December 2016.

The November inspection focused on the urgent and medical care at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, and at Worcestershire Royal, in Worcester, where the Emergency Department was found to be ‘severely overcrowded’ and patients were having to wait up to six hours for specialist doctors to respond to a referral. Inspectors noted that some improvements had been made, but overall the trust remains rated ‘inadequate’ and remains in special measures.

The report, published last week, states: “Not all issues highlighted in the section 29A warning notices and previous inspections had been addressed in the emergency department (ED). The department remained severely crowded and measures previously identified to prevent this had produced little significant improvement.

“Routine use of the corridor to care for patients over long periods of time was previously highlighted as a major patient safety concern, and continued. There were delays of up to six hours for specialist doctors to respond to patients who had been referred to them for treatment.”

Inspectors did note some areas of improvement with urgent and emergency care at the Alexandra Hospital being upgraded from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’.

They also identified outstanding services including medicines safety work by the Pharmacy Team in the emergency department at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, and care for patients with mental health condi- tions in the ED at the Alexandra Hospital.

The CQC has issued 44 action points of improvements that must be made urgently, including ensuring patients’ privacy and dignity, complying with infection control standards and ensuring that staff complete mandatory training.

Trust chief executive Michelle McKay said: “We welcome this report.

“It confirms that we are making progress and it also helps us to identify those areas where further work is needed over the coming weeks and months.”