Unacceptable waiting time leads to death of patient at Middlesex Hospital.
The patient died in the accident and emergency department at the Hospital, Enfield, in December. According to reports, hospital staff observed and checked the person regularly.
An investigation has been launched into the nature of the death, the hospital has said. The target of seeing patients within the first four hours (95%) was most. Concerns in the report leaked to the Enfield independent showed a serious lack of staff training, care for patients and handling of patient’ complaints, blaming the failing on the fact that there is no full-time clinical director.
According to the Enfield Independent, a whistle-blower, apparently a senior healthcare figure, has said:
“There was a phone conference held about this a couple of weeks ago, and it was decided a risk summit needed to be called.”
Meanwhile, by last November, only 57 per cent of complaints about the accident and emergency department were answered within the NHS’s deadline of 30 days.
Not only does this fall well short of the NHS target, which says that 80 per cent of complaints should be responded to within 30 days, it was also the first month that year when more than half of responses issued were done on time.
A total of 77 per cent of patients said they would recommend the hospital – a figure which falls below the NHS’s expected levels and is the worst in London.
The outpatients department was also the least popular in the capital with an 81 per cent of people recommending it, and the maternity department was second lowest rated in the city.
Enfield Council, Haringey Council, Enfield and Haringey CCG, NHS England and Monitor are all stepping in to discuss the future of the hospital.
North Middlesex apologised to patients who have had to wait for a long time, and admitted patient satisfaction levels were “not at the level we would wish for”.
A spokesperson for the hospital said: “Patient safety is always our number one priority and so we are working hard to address the challenges we currently face in our A&E department.
“We have been open and honest about any issues and have been working closely with other NHS organizations, local partners and patient representatives to make significant improvements since concerns were first identified.
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“Through next week’s meeting and our ongoing work with our partners, we want to reassure patients that we are determined to drive forward progress so we can continue to provide safe, high quality services and pinpoint any areas where we need to make improvements.”