Bristol’s new £430m hospital has been criticised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which says “patient safety and the wellbeing of staff” are being put at risk.
Southmead Hospital opened its door in May last year and underwent its first inspection by the CQC in November.
Issues were found across a range of services, and areas including critical care, maternity, gynaecology and surgery were rated as “requiring improvement.”
A report detailed significant problems with the flow of patients through the hospital, and the four-hour target for patients attending A&E was being routinely missed.
In some cases, A&E patients were left waiting on trolleys for over 12 hours, while one elderly woman was left in a room used to store medical equipment.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said there were “longstanding performance and financial issues to resolve which have a direct bearing on patient safety and the wellbeing of staff.”
However, he did praise staff for their dedication and commitment, congratulating them for dealing with the “upheaval” of moving to the new hospital.
South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Dr Jonathan Hayes accepted the CQC’s comments, saying “there are clearly many internal actions that the Trust needs to take in order to improve patient care and experience as it settles into the new hospital.”
North Bristol NHS Trust said it has since recruited more staff to deal with the problems.
Negligent Hospital Care Bristol
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