Crosshouse Hospital: Patients slept on recliner chairs, report finds

Patients slept on recliner chairs for up to three days before being admitted at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, a report has found.

Others lay on trolleys in corridors for up to 28 hours waiting for treatment.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) also found incidents of patients waiting in the combined assessment unit (CAU) for a full day.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran said it acknowledged and fully accepted the findings of the HIS report.

The report, published on Wednesday, showed older adults waiting to receive treatment did not always have care needs met, such as personal hygiene or food and nutrition.

It also highlighted concerns over mixed sex bays, overcrowding and staff shortages.

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The longest length of stay for patients within CAU and corridors was between 19 and 28 hours when they visited in May.

The report stated that some patients were being cared for in corridors for lengthy periods of time and requirements such as washing, showering and toileting "could not be met".

Patients could often be sleeping in recliner chairs for up to three days, inspectors were told, increasing the risk of pressure sores.

Inspectors felt NHS Ayrshire and Arran were unable to show they could manage these patients safely.

They also concluded managers did not have sufficient oversight of care provided in both accident and emergency and CAU areas of the hospital.

At the time of the inspection, the fire alarm sounded, but staff were not able to move patients because they did not know how.

It follows on from a report five years ago when HIS said more needed to be done to address "patient flow" and capacity at the hospital.

Additional beds were found in some six-bay wards that did not have oxygen facilities or power outlets for monitoring equipment as part of the hospital's full capacity plan.

When inspectors challenged hospital bosses on this, they were advised staff should check patients met the clinical criteria to be placed in an additional bed.

Donna Maclean, of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: "At the time of inspection, University Hospital Crosshouse was experiencing a significant range of pressures associated with Covid-19, including increased hospital admissions, increased waiting times in emergency departments and reduced staff availability.

"During our inspection we observed staff in clinical areas working hard to provide care.

"We observed examples of good teamwork and communication, and positive interactions between staff and patients.

"We also observed staff shortages and overcrowding, due to increased patient numbers, and we identified that patient care needs were not always being met."

Ms Maclean said officials had returned to the hospital to follow up on the patient safety issues but were "still not assured all of our concerns had been addressed".

She added: "We will return to NHS Ayrshire & Arran in the near future to carry out a further inspection based on our concerns."

'A matter of urgency'

A Scottish government spokesman said: "Patient safety is a key priority. We expect NHS Ayrshire and Arran to address any outstanding concerns Healthcare Improvement Scotland have identified as a matter of urgency, and will support them to do so."

Nurse director Jennifer Wilson said the health board was fully committed to addressing areas where the report found further improvement was required.

She added: "NHS Ayrshire and Arran has well established mechanisms for staff to raise concerns, including through line managers, via safety huddles, DATIX and the wellbeing team.

"We would encourage all staff to access these channels, where they will be supported to raise concerns, be listened to and their concerns acted upon."

However Unison warned there was a "staffing crisis" in NHS Scotland.

Unison's Janet Stewart said: "Staff are leaving, the turnover of staff higher than ever, we have waiting lists higher than ever, and the NHS is facing real challenges to recruit."

And Scottish Conservative health spokesman Craig Hoy said: "This damning report is not a reflection on the dedicated frontline staff at Crosshouse but an indictment of the SNP's desperate mismanagement of Scotland's NHS.

"Humza Yousaf must urgently get a grip of the NHS crisis his party has presided over."