As the BBC reports:
“An expert taskforce is being sent into a hospital in Essex amid concerns about standards of care.
The independent regulator highlighted higher-than-expected death rates among patients, and poor standards of hygiene, including blood-spattered kit……
The inspectors saw:
? Floors and curtains stained with blood
? Blood-splattered on trays used to carry equipment
? Badly soiled mattresses in the A&E department with stains soaked through to the foam filling
? Items that should only be used once still in use
? Equipment in the resuscitation room that was past the use-by date
? A children’s blood pressure cuff heavily stained with blood
? Suction machines contaminated with fluid inside and out with what looked like mould growing on the equipment
The inspectors criticised a poor care environment in A&E, in particular a lack of privacy for patients.
They also highlighted inadequate arrangements to treat children, with few specialist paediatric staff…….
This was found out by an unannounced team of inspectors from the CQC, the commission in charge of inspecting hospitals. What is particularly alarming is that the CQC rated Basildon as ‘good’ only last month – with a rating of 13 out of 14 for cleanliness – you can see a summary of their ratings here.
The Guardian quotes Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem health spokesman on this and he seems spot on:
“People have a right to know how on earth a hospital can be rated ‘good’ a few weeks before such serious failings come to light. This government has set up a labyrinth of bodies and inspectors which are meant to ensure high quality standards in our hospitals ? but it simply isn’t working. This is yet another case where a hospital has passed the test on paper but where real patient safety has clearly been compromised.”
The latest report indicates that death rates are the hospital are about a higher than should be expected, which leads the Daily Telegraph to cover the story with the headline “Hundreds of patients died needlessly at NHS hospital due to appalling care”