The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has fined Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust £4,000 for failing to triage patients within 15 minutes of their attendance at the emergency department.
CQC has issued a fixed penalty notice to the trust because it failed to comply with national clinical guidance that all children and adults must be assessed within 15 minutes of arrival. It also failed to implement a system that ensured all children who left the emergency department without being seen were followed up in a timely way by a competent healthcare professional.
Following inspections on 18 April 2019 and 29 November 2019, CQC imposed seven conditions on the trust’s registration requiring them to report the time from admission to triage by a clinician, ensure follow-ups were undertaken for children who were not seen at the department and to report to the CQC what systems were in place for effective management of patients under the age of 18 through the emergency care pathway.
Following information sent to CQC from the trust, it was identified that these conditions had not been fully adhered to. The trust breached these conditions at both Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, and Princess Royal Hospital, between 18 April 2019 and 29 September 2020.
Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“The trust has not responded satisfactorily to previous enforcement action regarding how quickly patients are assessed upon entering the urgent and emergency department
“We have issued a penalty notice due to the severity of the situation and to ensure the necessary, urgent improvements are made.
“It is essential that patients are seen in a timely way when they arrive at an emergency department; failure to do so could result in deteriorating health, harm, or even death, which is why national guidelines exist and must be followed.
“We will continue to carefully monitor the trust to determine whether this drives the required change and will take further action if there is no progress.”
CQC is listening to what people are saying about services during this time to help detect any changes in care. If there is evidence people are at immediate risk of harm, CQC can and will take action to ensure that people are being kept safe. People can give feedback to CQC via the details below.
- Telephone - 03000 616161
- Give feedback via website- www.cqc.org.uk/give-feedback-on-care
Ends
For media enquiries call regional engagement officer, Helen Gildersleeve on 07825 939328. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here www.cqc.org.uk/media/our-media-office (Please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters).
For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.