A HEALTHY baby boy is claimed to have died in Swansea after being placed in a broken incubator, and a choking man's heart attack symptoms were allegedly missed, according to a shocking new report.
The catalogue of serious allegations have been made by patients about the care they received at the city's Morriston, Singleton and Cefn Coed hospitals.
Claims of poor treatment were also made against Neath Port Talbot and Princess of Wales, Bridgend, hospitals, along with primary care services, mental health services, the ambulance trust, the dental service and the health board.
Health bosses said the claims were not proven fact, but they took all complaints seriously.
The baby boy is claimed to have died at Singleton Hospital after he was placed in an incubator which had a "do not use" sticker on it, according to a patient watchdog's complaints report. He was only readmitted as his mum was suffering with a chest infection.
The Swansea-based mum raised "several instances of concern", including that "sick on the floor took days to be cleaned".
In the document, produced by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Community Health Council, it said the "post mortem revealed (the 15-day-old baby) was perfect in every way but died from 'massive bilateral bronchopneumonia'."
The complaint has been referred to the independent complaints secretariat, according to the body's December progress report, and is awaiting instructions from the complainant. A number of other patients made claims against Singleton Hospital, including a mum-to-be, who was around 11 weeks pregnant, who was referred by her GP after suffering from "dizziness, sickness and weakness".
In the report it claimed: "The staff set up a drip but failed to start it, the bell was ignored when she rang it and multiple other examples of lack of care. The patient then suffered a silent miscarriage." The complaint is continuing to be looked at by the Community Health Council's complaints service.
Another report involves a patient admitted to Singleton Hospital with pneumonia. It is claimed that while she was being "escorted to the toilet, the staff nurse left her to answer a phone and the patient fell and suffered trauma to her face and head. Two days later the patient slipped into a coma and died." The complaint is still being looked at.
Latest figures, for the quarter between July 1 and September 30 last year, showed there were a total of 58 complaints made and that 25 cases had been closed.
Criticised
But it is uncertain what action was taken by the health board on any of them.
Morriston Hospital was also criticised in the report, after it was alleged that a Swansea "patient attended A&E with choking and staff completely missed the fact that he was also suffering with a massive heart attack". It is one in a number of complaints made against the hospital.
Meanwhile, Cefn Coed Hospital was also criticised after it was alleged an Alzheimer's sufferer "was in extreme pain, starved and given no water" over a period of 17 days. The man later died.
The complaints service was also asked to step in after it was said a patient swallowed a bone and eventually ended up at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend but no endoscopy was said to be available. The report said: "Had endoscopy next morning but died during procedure."
Allegations
Victoria Franklin, ABM's director of nursing, added: "These cases are not proven facts, but outlines of complaint allegations reported to the CHC's Complaints Service.
"ABM takes all complaints very seriously and the Health Board has stringent procedures in place to investigate complaints, and if problems are identified, to make improvements to the way care is provided. Patient safety and high quality care are top priorities for ABM.
"If someone is unhappy about the care they receive, we encourage patients and their families to meet us to talk about their concerns and hopefully answer questions and resolve the issues they have.
"ABM staff care for thousands of patients every day and the vast majority are happy with the care that they receive. Sadly, with these significant numbers there will be times when care falls short of what we would wish.
"We believe it is important that patients and their relatives can and do complain when this occurs and we work hard to address any issues raised with us. It would be inappropriate, however, to comment on the detail of the CHC report due to patient confidentiality.
"It is important to note that while we do receive complaints we also receive much positive feedback from patients.
"Last year we received 5,200 complimentary letters – an average of 100 per week. These were in addition to thank you cards sent directly to individual wards."
elizabeth.perkins@swwmedia.co.uk
 |  |
South Korea Roberto Mancini Executive pay and bonuses Folk music Fulham Self-catering
No comments:
Post a Comment