Dead patient left on ward for nearly five hours as Birmingham trust grapples with Covid pandemic

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April Roach @aprilroach284 February 2021

A dead patient was left on a ward for nearly five hours and nurses battled to care for up to 17 patients at once as Covid cases overwhelmed one hospital trust in December, a new report reveals.

Inspectors for the Care Quality Commision found that University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust was struggling with low staffing numbers as admissions of coronavirus cases began surging in December. 

In one part of the trust, which is one of the largest in England, some nurse-to-patient ratios were 1:17 at the time of inspection.

CQC inspectors said dead patients at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield were “not always transported from the wards in a timely manner”.

“On ward eight, a patient had passed away at 6.45am, at 11.35am the patient still had not last offices completed or been transported from the ward due to low staffing levels,” the report states.

“This was reported by several staff members and it caused them distress.”

Inspectors highlighted issues surrounding infection control after hearing reports of patients without Covid-19 being placed on wards where there were Covid-positive patients.

The document also explains how another patient died and others suffered harm after potentially avoidable falls.

“We were provided with examples of potentially avoidable falls due to low staffing numbers,” says the report.

“On ward 11, a patient fell and passed away after sustaining an injury.At the time of the fall, the ward was short-staffed, and all staff were busy with other patients.

“An investigation report was produced as a result which highlighted staffing as a concern.”

CQC inspectors conducted unannounced inspections at three hospitals run by the trust on December 2 and 9 last year.

Other findings included concerns about the cognitive decline among patients with dementia with relatives unable to visit, staff shortages meaning that some patients had to wait to be supported to eat meals and reports that staff often worked “hours” beyond their 12 hour shifts to ensure patients were safe.

Some relatives of patients had “turned up directly to the hospital to complain” after raising concerns about not getting timely updates about their loved ones.

Inspectors also raised concerns about nurse staffing at the Birmingham Heartlands Hospital and at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

CQC has made recommendations for the trust, including ensuring that nurse staffing is adequate to keep patients safe and improvements in venous thrombosis embolism care.

A spokesperson for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said: “There are some issues raised in the reports, all of which we were aware of prior to the inspection, which we recognise as requiring further work and this is ongoing.

“At the time of the inspections, which took place on 2 and 9 December 2020, the Trust and our amazing staff were 10 months into a pandemic response with over 450 Covid inpatients on the days the inspections took place, rising to 1,054 Covid inpatients during January.

“The effort of our staff to provide care to what is now well over 11,000 Covid inpatients, during the most difficult period in the history of the NHS, has been and remains quite extraordinary. It continues to be our focus.”

Reporting by PA Media.

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