Hospital A&E department where patients waiting ‘head to toe’ downgraded by inspectors

The A&E department at the Royal Oldham Hospital has been downgraded by regulators following fears of “significant risk of harm” to patients after inspectors found some were crammed “head to toe” on trolleys during a surge in coronavirus cases.

Bosses at the hospital have been told by the Care Quality Commission to urgently improve it’s A&E services following the inspection last November, after staff were found to not be following infection rules and patients were at risk of catching the virus.

The inspection report said “Staff, patients and ambulance crews were not always able to maintain social distancing in the corridors. Patients on trolleys were positioned “head to toe”.

It added that staff in the department did not follow rules and parts of the premises were not always cleaned, adding “Staff did not always maintain social distancing between patients or themselves. We saw six staff members not maintaining social distance in an office next to the green (non-Covid) resuscitation area. Staff workstations within the department were close together which limited staff ability to socially distance when updating patient records.

“Another staff member interacted closely with patients and the immediate physical environment, without using gloves and washing hands or changing PPE between patients. Staff did not always change personal protective equipment when moving between different areas.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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