The body of a patient who died in a scandal-hit A&E went unnoticed for so long that rigor mortis set in, a whistleblower claims. The disturbing allegation is one of many made by a consultant who was horrified by standards at North Middlesex University Hospital which he described as hell and a war zone . The medic told the Sunday People1 : I still shudder at the thought that a patient in my department could have been left so long unchecked. I wasn t on that night but was shocked and sickened when told. What would his family have thought when they heard?
The doctor2 , who now works at another hospital, also claimed the department was so strained patients had to be treated in store rooms and security offices. And tending to patients on trolleys in corridors became so routine they even appointed a corridor nurse .
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North Middlesex Hospital in Edmonton
The damning allegations are the latest in a series of Sunday People revelations on care at the hospital. In July, inspectors ordered its A&E department to improve after finding there were not enough doctors.
Its urgent and emergency care services were branded inadequate after a surprise visit by the Care Quality Commission in April. The inspection was sparked by our revelation that in February patients were ordered via the loudspeaker system: Go home if you re not dying. In June, stricken patients who had waited up to seven hours on trolleys were turned away. A month later, medical director Dr Cathy Cale said: We ve apologised for the poor care in A&E. We are determined to improve and believe we have turned a corner in recent weeks.
But talking about the care he witnessed, the whistleblower said: North Middlesex s A&E has been so overrun at times doctors had to examine and treat patients in the plaster room.
Who wants to be treated and examined in the plaster room? You only go there if you ve broken your leg.
In other instances, my junior doctors were examining and treating patients on trolleys in a public corridor or as they sat on seats in the corridor.
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Care Quality Commission found emergency care services ‘inadequate’ earlier this year
On one occasion I came across a patient being examined in a large store room used to keep cleaning equipment. Once we had to use the security guard s office to examine and treat patients.
Caring for and treating patients in the corridor became so routine the department appointed a corridor nurse, whose job was to look after up to 16 patients. At times it was like you were in a hospital in a war zone. We had trolleys lining the walls opposite the cubicles, so you could hardly walk by to see patients.
Then there d be another line of trolley patients round the corner.
I ve taken charge of a new A&E and the atmosphere couldn t be more different. I m relieved my three years of hell at North Middlesex are over. The doctor revealed that the man in the rigor mortis case had been moved from the high-dependency unit and down-graded to majors.
The patient was admitted with chest pains but had not been diagnosed when he died. A postmortem revealed he suffered an aortic aneurysm and bled to death. The medic says: There were blue-light cases coming in who needed the most urgent care. We only have six resus beds and someone decided to move him. He was left for hours and when we finally checked he was dead.
The consultant claimed North Middlesex Hospital management had given false assurances it could treat hundreds more patients a week following the controversial closure of neighbouring Chase Farm Hospital A&E in 2013. He added: Within months it became apparent the North Middlesex and the local Clinical Commissioning Group had failed to provide enough resources. We weren t ready. There was no expansion of A&E. Chase Farm had 30 cubicles in its A&E.
We had just over 20. We didn t have enough cubicles or resus beds. A CQC inspection found the department was inadequately staffed for the 500 to 600 patients a day. Following publication of the report in July, chief executive Julie Lowe left her post on special leave and was replaced by an interim boss.
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MP David Burrowes had a close call after long wait in A&E
Days before the inspection, local Tory MP David Burrowes nearly died after he was left on a trolley in A&E for 13 hours with a perforated appendix. The CQC report said: Patients at risk of deteriorating were not always identified early, which may lead to poorer outcomes.
But our whistleblower said the A&E department is still struggling even though hundreds of patients a week in ambulances are being diverted to other hospitals. He said: The department is still experiencing many of the long waits on trolleys, etc, that have characterised North Midd A&E for the past two years.
They need to put more resources in place and they desperately need to provide the staff with more support. A North Middlesex University Hospital spokesman said: Since the CQC s report we have made substantial improvements to the number and quality of senior medical staffing in the emergency department.
“We accept that we still have some way to go but we are pleased that in August we saw and treated 90 per cent of patients within the four-hour target time.
Last week, only 27 out of 3,167 patients were in A&E for more than eight hours.
From a low point of 65 per cent in April, we saw and treated 90 per cent of patients in August within the four-hour target time, helping to ensure patient safety and improve their experience. On people being left in corridors, the spokesman said extra staff had been employed to improve safety. The spokesman said they had previously apologised for the rigor mortis case, adding: We have taken steps to prevent it happening again.
References
- ^ Sunday People (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ doctor (www.mirror.co.uk)