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Emergency care at Southmead ‘inadequate’
Urgent and emergency care at Bristol’s flagship Southmead Hospital is ‘inadequate’ and is putting the safety of patients and the wellbeing of staff at risk according to a health watchdog report.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report found A&E patients were left waiting on trolleys for over 12 hours until a bed became available.
North Bristol NHS Trust said extra staff had been hired to deal with the problems since the inspection was made in November last year.
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The trust has been formally warned to “take action” at the new £430m hospital and deal with problems in the emergency department, where patients are waiting “too long to be assessed and treated”.
In his first report on the quality of care provided by North Bristol NHS Trust, England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said while there “has been unprecedented demand” on the urgent and emergency service at Southmead,” this has “not always been dealt with effectively”.
During the inspection a team of inspectors visited Southmead Hospital, Cossham Hospital, Frenchay, Riverside and Eastgate House. The trust’s community healthcare services for children and young people, including mental health services, were also inspected. Overall the trust has been rated as Requiring Improvement.
However, the inspectors did praise staff and found at all levels they were “committed to providing good patient care and frustrated when they felt they could not achieve this”.
Significant issues
The report found that the four hour target for patients attending A&E at Southmead to be admitted, discharged or transferred was not being met, with some patients remaining on trolley beds in A&E for over 12 hours until a bed became available. Some medically fit patients could not leave hospital until social care or community health arrangements had been made.
However, the report did identify a number of areas of outstanding practice across the trust, including the commitment of staff, particularly in the emergency department where they displayed excellent teamwork, the involvement of children and young people in their care, staff at Cossham Hospital going out of their way to involve women and their partners in their maternity care.
Andrea Young, the chief executive of North Bristol NHS Trust, said there had been “significant improvements” since the inspection.
She said: “We have recruited additional nursing staff and consultants and we’ve identified additional places for patients to be assessed so they don’t wait a long time.”
Image: North Bristol NHS Trust
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