The Chief Inspector of Hospitals has taken action to protect people at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust following an inspection at Russells Hall Hospital.
Inspectors visited Russells Hall Hospital on 28 June and looked specifically at urgent and emergency care as a result of continued safety concerns surrounding the service.
The inspection found a number of concerns surrounding the triage, assessment and tracking of patients in the emergency department, particularly with regard to the management of patients with suspected sepsis.
Inspectors also found that care records were not always written and managed in a way that kept patients safe and some staff raised concerns regarding the leadership style of some of the executive team, speaking of a poor culture and working environment.
As a result of the inspection CQC took action to vary conditions on the trust’s registration.
Heidi Smoult, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals in the Central region, said:
“We have had ongoing concerns about the emergency department at Russells Hall Hospital and were extremely concerned at what we found during our inspection.
“Patients were not being consistently assessed in a safe way, in particular, whether staff were identifying patients with suspected sepsis effectively. As a result of this we have varied conditions on the trust’s registration meaning it must provide regular updates to CQC surrounding staffing, triage of patients and its management of sepsis.
“Inspectors returned to the department in August to carry out a further inspection and a full report of this inspection will be published in due course. Meanwhile, we continue to monitor the trust extremely closely. We have also continued to escalate our ongoing concerns with partner organisations and to work with NHS Improvement to ensure that necessary steps are taken to improve safety for patients. The trust knows what it must do to ensure people receive the care they should be able to expect and we will return to check on whether sufficient improvements have been made.”
The trust has been told it must make the following improvements:
- It must ensure all systems and processes in place to identify and manage patients with deterioration effectively are followed.
- Staff must record an accurate, complete and contemporaneous record of the care provided to patients.
- The trust must ensure there are sufficient numbers of staff, who are suitably trained and competent, to care for the number and acuity of patients.
- Deaths in the service must be reviewed robustly and appropriate lessons from these must be learned and shared.
Russells Hall Hospital is currently rated as Requires Improvement. This inspection was not rated and does not change the overall rating for the hospital.
We have had ongoing concerns about the emergency department at Russells Hall Hospital and were extremely concerned at what we found during our inspection
Heidi Smoult, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals in the Central region