Report released following serious incident in Dudley Hospital A&E

Report released following serious incident in Dudley Hospital A&E (Image: Newsquest)

Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission has published a new report following an inspection of Russells Hall Hospital’s emergency department after a serious incident.

Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust’s A&E department underwent an unannounced intensive inspection in April after concerns were raised about the service’s response to people with mental health conditions.

The concerns relate to a serious incident in the emergency department which is believed to have been a suicide attempt, but neither the trust nor the CQC have confirmed what happened.

Due to the narrower focus of the inspection, no new ratings have been given and the overall rating for hospitals and emergency departments remains ‘requires improvement’.

CQC inspectors found during a recent visit that the service did not always follow the trust’s own policy on observing people in A&E who required close observation. Additionally, information about critical incidents and subsequent learnings was not always shared with partner services.

However, the inspection found that the design, maintenance, and use of the facility, grounds, and equipment generally kept people in the emergency department safe.

Inspectors also noted that staff assessed and acted on risks to people using services and kept accurate care records. And it was common for doctors, nurses, and other health professionals to work together as a team to benefit the people who used their services.

A report published on the CQC website said leaders had a vision of what they wanted to achieve and a strategy to implement it, and staff had followed national guidance to gain public buy-in.

Charlotte Rudge, CQC’s deputy director of operations for the Midlands region, said: “I have inspected the emergency department and found that staff and leaders work well together to ensure people living with mental illness are safe and kept out of harm’s way. I understand,” he said.

“The service managed the safety incident well and learned lessons from it, and it was good to see managers debriefed and fully supported staff after a serious incident.

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“Mental health lead nurses create a new mental health training package for emergency department staff, focusing on triage and understanding and managing the behavior of people at risk of self-harm and suicide. What I did was positive.

“All staff and managers we spoke to were keen to improve their service and were receptive to our feedback.

“We will continue to monitor the trust, including any future inspections, to ensure that people using our department continue to receive safe and appropriate care.”

Diane Wake, CEO of Dudley Group, said: “I am pleased that inspectors have confirmed that our staff and leaders work well together to ensure that people suffering from mental illness are kept safe and out of harm’s way.

“They also noted that our staff managed the safety incident well and learned lessons from it, and that managers were debriefed and fully supported staff after a serious incident occurred. also pointed out.

“We are proud of the dedication and commitment our staff has shown to improve patient safety and the emergency department experience.”

He said the trust was “committed to ensuring its policies and procedures are followed and further work is being done to ensure this happens”, but that the incident that led to the inspection Details were not disclosed.