‘Inadequate’ A&E to be reviewed after 54 patient deaths in six months

A hospital where staff told health inspectors they would not want their relatives to be treated is being investigated after it was rated “inadequate”.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has ordered an independent review into the Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, West Midlands, following 54 patient deaths in six months. The inquiry is being conducted by Mike Bewick, former NHS England deputy chief executive.

Inspectors raised a “number of concerns” surroundingthe hospital’s A&E department, particularly whether staff were identifying patients with suspected sepsis effectively.

The CQC said care records were not always written and managed in a way that kept patients safe and four members of staff said they wouldn’t want their relatives to receive treatment at the hospital.

A CQC spokesperson said: “The review of deaths falls outside CQC’S remit. However, we continue to monitor the trust very closely.”

Diane Wake, chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Following the inspection, we made immediate changes to our triage processes, how we identify, escalate and manage patients presented with sepsis, and undertook a staffing review in line with professional standards and best practice guidance.”