Morecambe Bay NHS Trust: Urology patient safety compromised, says report

The trust apologised for any distress caused to patients and families

Safety of patients was compromised at a hospital's "dysfunctional" urology department, a report has found.

The review of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust's (UHMBT) urology services came after a patient died in 2015, partly due to a series of failings in his care.

The independent probe highlighted key failings in dealing with concerns and complaints in the department.

The trust apologised for any distress caused to patients and families.

The department provides services at Lancaster Infirmary in Lancashire and Furness General Hospital and Westmorland General Hospital in Cumbria.

The report by Niche Health and Social Care Consulting said complicated procedures being carried out at larger sites meant de-skilling of some staff and some potentially territorial behaviour, so that only a small number of clinicians retained the more complex work.

Internal concerns and complaints were not dealt with properly which raised issues for patient safety and some members of staff did not communicate with each other in an effective way, the report also found.

Aaron Cummins, chief executive of UHMBT, said in a statement: "On behalf of the trust, I would like to apologise to patients and families who have experienced any kind of harm or distress caused by the events chronicled in the report.

"Some progress has already been made over the last couple of years and the trust will continue to ensure improvements are made as quickly as possible and are sustained."

The findings come after a report by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) made a number of urgent recommendations to the trust's trauma and orthopaedics department.

Mr Cummins said the trust had already implemented many of the RCS's recommendations.

The trust has previously been investigated over safety concerns after failures at Furness General Hospital led to the unnecessary deaths of 11 babies and one mother.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]