Russell's Hall Hospital: 'Warnings not acted upon before patient deaths'

Natalie Billingham and Kaysie-Jane Robinson died at Russell's Hall Hospital

Two patients with sepsis died at the same hospital after warnings about failings in care were not acted upon, a court has heard.

Natalie Billingham and Kaysie-Jane Robinson died in 2018 at Russell's Hall Hospital.

Just months earlier concerns about sepsis management were raised by inspectors with the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust.

The trust has pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to safety failings.

It has accepted Ms Billingham 33, and Ms Robinson, 14, were exposed to "significant risk of avoidable harm" and in July admitted two breaches of the 2008 Health and Social Care Act after an investigation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

During unannounced visits by the CQC, inspectors found staff were not clear on how to follow a sepsis treatment "pathway" and issues around patient monitoring were also raised.

'Missed or ignored'

Unacceptably poor standards of care and treatment were identified, which were directly related to the "failings which were present" in both cases, the CQC's barrister, Ian Bridge told Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court.

The failures were brought to the attention of the trust "in a rapid fashion", he said, but they were not acted upon.

Ms Billingham was admitted to Dudley's Russell's Hall Hospital with numbness in her right foot on 28 February 2018 and died on 2 March of organ failure caused by a "time critical" infection.

She was initially thought to have a deep vein thrombosis after a brief triage that failed to identify "disordered" observations, the court heard.

Opportunities afterwards to reconsider that diagnosis were "missed or ignored".

The court heard Ms Robinson, who had cerebral palsy and was initially believed to have gastroenteritis, was given an inaccurate "early warning score" meaning a sepsis screening tool was not triggered.

She died six days later after being transferred to another hospital.

The trust is due to be sentenced on Friday.