CQC issues restrictions against Yorkshire hospital

The Care Quality Commission has taken urgent action against a Yorkshire hospital after it emerged that patients had been kept on a day ward for long periods of time without adequate catering and washing facilities.

The CQC took action against Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust after its inspectors found that a day ward at Pinderfields Hospital near Wakefield had some patients who had been there for more than four days in poor conditions.

The inspectors discovered that the ward, which was not intended to be used for longer term care, had no suitable washing facilities and patients were having to wash using disposable cardboard bowls. They also found the ward did not have suitable night lighting and therefore, when patients were admitted at night which was quite often, bright lights had to be switched on, disturbing the sleep of the other patients.

As a result the CQC has now imposed on the NHS trust a legal requirement preventing it from treating patients in the unit for more than 23 hours. Malcolm Bower-Brown, deputy director of CQC in the north, said the action was not taken lightly, but when poor practice was identified, immediate action had to be taken to ensure that patients were not put at risk.

The trust says it has already made improvements with patients now having the same food as patients on other wards, while bedside lockers and lights have now been installed. It also intends to make improvements to the ward’s washing facilities. Stephen Eames, interim chief executive of the trust, apologised to patients and said patients were not routinely staying on the ward for more than 23 hours. He said it happened occasionally as part of an escalation policy, which allows the hospital to find extra capacity for low risk in-patients in times of high demand.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/sep/21/nhs-watchdog-pinderfields-...