Report slams hospital over ‘patient risk’
A HOSPITAL has been ordered to make urgent improvements after inspectors found some children and patients needing emergency care were being put at risk.
The Government’s health watchdog carried out a surprise visit to the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in May this year after concerns were raised over the safety of both urgent and emergency services and services for children and young people.
In a report the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said that although some progress had been made since an inspection in December 2015 found it required improvement, standards at the hospital were still not good enough and issued Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) NHS Trust with a list of areas improvements must be made in.
During the inspection, the CQC visited the paediatric emergency care centre (PECC), emergency care centre (ECC) and Rainbow Ward, which is a children’s ward.
According to the report, there were often gaps in medical records, meaning there was ‘limited evidence of the care provided to patients,’ and that levels of safeguarding training had fallen from the hospital’s previous inspection in December 2015.
The document stated this ‘posed a risk that staff may not have the necessary training to enable them to care for patients appropriately.’
Other concerns raised included empty sanitising gel dispensers in the main reception area of the ECC, and that a room in the centre used for storing major incident and chemical decontamination equipment was also used occasionally to take blood samples from patients.
Issues the hospital was told they must improve are:
Staff working with children must complete mandatory safeguarding training appropriate to their role.
The trust should ensure the tools used to manage risk, such as risk assessments and observations, are used and recorded. Appropriate action should be taken when triggering early warning systems for deteriorating patients.
Patient records must be accurate and complete.
CQC inspectors will continue to monitor these services and will return in due course to check on the trust’s progress in making the improvements.
Overall, WWL does has a ‘good’ rating following the full inspection in December 2015 – The Infirmary is listed as ‘requires improvement,’ The Thomas Linacre Outpatient Centre is ‘outstanding.’
A spokesman for WWL said: “Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust accept that improvements are required and will be responding to the CQC outlining actions already taken, and actions planned, to address their areas of concern.”