Patients at risk of harm in emergency care at Aintree Hospital, says CQC

The CQC carried out an unannounced inspection at A&E after staff had raised concerns over patient safety

Emergency care patients are "at risk of harm" at a hospital in Liverpool, inspectors have found.

University Hospital Aintree did not always have enough nursing and support staff to keep patients safe or provide the right care and treatment, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

The CQC found too many people were being admitted and some patients were treated in the corridor.

The trust said it was "committed to learning and improving".

'Heightened risk'

The CQC said it carried out an unannounced inspection of the urgent and emergency care department after staff at the trust had raised concerns about the safety and quality of care.

It found:

• Patients did not always receive appropriate care and treatment in a timely way, exposing them to the risk of harm

• There was a risk staff did not always recognise or respond appropriately to signs of deteriorating health

• Staff did not always complete risk assessments for patients quickly

• People could not always access the service when they needed it and did not always receive the right care promptly

• Waiting times from attendance to treatment and arrangements to admit, treat and discharge patients were not always in line with national standards

• There was not always enough nursing staff and support staff to keep patients safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment

However:

• There were enough medical staff to match the planned numbers

• Staff gave patients enough food and drink in all areas of the emergency department - except for the waiting room

• Staff assessed and monitored patients' pain regularly and gave pain relief quickly

The hospital, part of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, was not rated following the inspection in October and the previous rating of "requires improvement" remains.

Ann Ford, CQC's director of operations in the north, said the inspection had been carried out "in direct response to concerns shared with us by staff working at the trust".

"We were already closely monitoring the urgent and emergency care performance following the concerns identified at our previous inspection," she added.

"This new intelligence indicated a heightened risk and a decision was made to inspect."

Karen Knapton, CQC head of hospital inspection, said staff had been "working hard under sustained pressure to deliver care" and patients had been treated with "compassion and kindness".

But staff "didn't always respect their privacy and dignity or keep their care confidential, due to people being able to overhear private conversations because of the pressures the trust was facing and lack of space".

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "Though health and care services are incredibly challenged, we are working to address the pressures we're facing.

"We're recruiting nursing staff, we've taken further action to provide timely access to treatment, we've introduced more measures to monitor patients in the waiting room and we're working with local partners to support patients leaving the hospital with support in the community."

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