Inspection reveals emergency patients are ‘at risk’ in A&E department
Posted: 22nd June 2015
Posted in: Medical Negligence
According to the information gathered by a health watchdog during an inspection in March, emergency patients at a Worcestershire hospital are ‘at risk’. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection made some worrying findings at Worcestershire Royal’s emergency department, such as equipment being unclean and past its expiry date and no security measures being in place.
The inspection was carried out without any previous warning following concerns flagged up in the accident and emergency departments of the Royal and Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital. Both hospitals were found to be “high-risk services”. The CQC inspectors recorded the fact that one child at the Royal was forced to wait for two hours without pain relief, while other patients were left unattended in the hospital’s corridors.
Security measures highly “inadequate”
The CQC report noted other issues, including the fact that medication was not given in a “timely manner”, allowing significant room for error, and patients’ notes were not up-to-date. It was also found that the department’s security measures were highly “inadequate”, with the doors being left open on a regular basis.
The hospital trust said that it was currently dealing with a “difficult time”. However, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, stated: “Our inspectors will return to the trust unannounced at a future date to check on whether improvements have been made. If improvements are not made we will consider what further action we need to take.”
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