Fears for affected person security had been raised by inspectors after an accident and emergency unit at a Glasgow hospital was discovered “usually working at over 250 per cent capability”.
A report printed by Healthcare Enchancment Scotland (HIS) warned that basic care wants weren’t being met at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
The watchdog visited the hospital in April and noticed a affected person languishing in A&E for greater than seven hours with out being provided meals, drink or ache aid.
An inspector additionally wanted to intervene when a affected person “nearly fell off a trolley” beside a nursing station within the division.
The incidents triggered a wider inspection of the hospital in June.
‘Sufferers falling from bathrooms’
The report by HIS disclosed particulars of each visits and revealed 11 necessities had been positioned on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
The preliminary go to resulted in inspectors elevating “important issues in relation to affected person security and the potential impression of overcrowding on hearth evacuation security”.
These included an absence of co-ordination inside the nursing crew that resulted in some sufferers being found within the division who had been “thought to have left previous to being reviewed”, in addition to “misidentified sufferers” the place exams wanted to be repeated and “sufferers falling from trollies”.
The report revealed how a number of sufferers in A&E had requested inspectors for assist accessing foods and drinks in addition to updates about their care.
It added: “We additionally recognized incidents the place sufferers who had been ready in corridors had develop into critically unwell.”
On the time of each inspections the hospital was working at 96 per cent mattress capability – above the secure mattress occupancy degree of lower than 85 per cent beneficial by each the British Medical Affiliation and the Royal Faculty of Emergency Medication.
The report revealed that “proof submitted by NHS Higher Glasgow and Clyde demonstrated that the division was usually working at over 250 per cent capability”.
Measures put in place
NHS Higher Glasgow and Clyde stated measures had been put in place to take care of issues after the April inspection. These included allocating a nurse and two healthcare assist staff to look after sufferers in corridors.
HIS stated that its second inspection discovered that “though the wards and emergency division had been busy, sufferers appeared properly cared for”.
Donna Maclean, the chief inspector at Healthcare Enchancment Scotland, stated the well being board responded “promptly” to issues raised after the preliminary inspection.
“They supplied assurance that instant key actions had been put in place to enhance affected person security inside the division. We revisited the emergency division as a part of the following inspection and noticed that important enhancements had been launched to reinforce affected person security and care.”
NHS Higher Glasgow and Clyde stated it recognised that “some facets of care and requirements weren’t what they need to have been, and we’ve taken the report findings very critically.”
A spokesman added: “Rapid enhancements had been made following the inspection, and the inspection in June 2024 recognised the optimistic and sustained impression of those actions. We are able to verify that 9 out of the 11 necessities printed within the report have been accomplished, with the remaining two on observe to be full by the top of December 2024.”
