Russells Hall Hospital: Patient dies waiting for treatment
- Published
Russells Hall Hospital had the best performing A&E department in the country two years ago
A patient died at a West Midlands hospital while waiting to be treated, amid winter pressures on the NHS.
A man died in a waiting room at Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, the BBC understands.
The death happened before Christmas when the hospital was under severe pressure. There is no suggestion at this stage the death could have been avoided.
The Dudley Group of Hospitals said the death was being investigated.
It is understood the man was a suspected cardiac patient with chest pains.
The trust said: "All serious incidents are subject to a full internal investigation and where appropriate external advice or investigation is sought."
'Doing their utmost'
Russells Hall Hospital had the best performing A&E department in the country two years ago, but it has seen its performance decline this winter.
On Tuesday there were 53 ambulance delays of more than an hour outside the hospital - the highest figure in the West Midlands region.
The trust says over the new year period it saw a 13% increase in patients arriving by ambulance.
Figures released by NHS England as part of its weekly winter statistics publication illustrate the pressure the health service overall is under with at least 20 hospital trusts declaring major incidents this week.
A spokesperson for the Dudley hospital said: "At times we are struggling with the numbers of ambulances as we have experienced ambulances arriving in clusters which can cause delays in handover.
"But everyone is doing their utmost to ensure we look after the patients."
Update 4 January: An earlier version of this story referred to circumstances surrounding a second death, which the hospital trust has since denied
- Published4 January 2018
- Published21 December 2017
