Overcrowding caused A&E death, says hospital boss

Trust’s medical director issues warning as man dies of heart attack after ninehour wait for treatment

THE death of a patient in an accident and emergency department was “due entirely to dangerous overcrowding”, a medical director has said.

The man had been in A&E at Northampton General Hospital for more than nine hours, and had been found to be suffering heart problems and anaemia, but had not been started on treatment when he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.

The death on Wednesday night came as the Northampton NHS trust was on the highest level of alert.

Several trusts this week declared such emergencies as they struggled to cope with a surge in demand in the wake of the cold snap and Storm Emma.

In an email, leaked to Health Service Journal, Matt Metcalfe, the trust’s medical director, blamed the death on the overcrowding levels within the A&E department. In the memo, sent to hospital consultants on Thursday, he said: “Last night a patient died due entirely to the dangerous overcrowding of the department. The risk we have all been aware of, but may have felt hypothetical, has just happened.”

The man presented at the A&E with stomach pain and was initially seen and assessed within an hour. He was waiting on a chair to be seen by senior staff after a blood test suggested he may have heart problems. He deteriorated and suffered a cardiac arrest before being seen.

Dr Sonia Swart, the trust’s chief executive, said the situation reflected pressures being felt across the NHS.

“This is a national issue, increasingly obvious from all the reports that are coming out this winter,” she said.

“We are not trying to say there is nothing we can do about it. We are saying we can do better and we will do.” In the email from the medical director, he asked all senior staff to help the trust to cope with “extreme pressure” with every patient in hospital to be reviewed to see if they could be discharged.

He said patients should only stay in hospital if the reason was “essential”.

The email said: “We need to do more to distribute patient risk through the trust and through the system. The part we are asking you to play is in providing the senior medical review making sure that there are no patients kept in hospital… unless essential.” A trust statement said: “We have expressed our sincere apologies to the family and will work with them to undertake an investigation so that we can fully understand the circumstances that led to their loved one’s death.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We expect hospitals to plan around busy periods to ensure patients continue to get safe care. This is a tragic situation and we will be supporting NHS Improvement as they work closely with the Trust to fully understand the circumstances, which will be done through a full investigation.”