Princess Alexandra Hospital: Inspectors intervened over deteriorating patients

The emergency department at Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Harlow, Essex, has been rated inadequate

A health watchdog said it was "very concerning" inspectors had to intervene to ensure two deteriorating patients received care in an emergency unit.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, between July and September after concerns were raised.

The hospital has been told the quality of its emergency department, maternity and medical services needs to improve.

The NHS trust which runs the site has been approached for comment.

The trust has been rated as "requires improvement" overall, with the hospital's emergency department rated "inadequate".

The CQC report said inspectors had to intervene after seeing two deteriorating patients waiting in a corridor after being brought to the emergency department by ambulance.

One patient had a bleeding head injury after a fall and was on blood thinners, and another was taken to hospital after being found collapsed and unresponsive.

The second patient waited two hours and 26 minutes to be seen, the report said.

'Potentially life-threatening'

Inspectors also observed a patient secured to a spinal board with head blocks who had been in a corridor for 15 minutes without supervision.

The report said this was "potentially life-threatening" if the patient had vomited. They were also moved immediately after inspectors raised concerns.

Philippa Styles, head of hospital inspection, said the CQC recognised "the enormous pressure" NHS services were under, but hospitals must "do all they can to mitigate risk".

She highlighted issues around staff levels in both the emergency and maternity departments.

"Staff told us they were exhausted, were not getting breaks, had been in tears while on duty and did not feel they were listened to by senior staff," Ms Styles said.

"Despite these challenges, staff should be commended for how kind and caring we saw they were with all their patients."

The trust has been told it must make a number of improvements, including making sure there is enough staff, completing observations within 15 minutes of arrival at the emergency department, and implementing a robust maternity triage system.

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