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Clinical Negligence Solicitors

Two-thirds of England’s A & E’s have caused safety concerns (13 October 2016)

Date: 13/10/2016
Duncan Lewis, Clinical Negligence Solicitors, Two-thirds of England’s A & E’s have caused safety concerns

Safety fears have been raised in around two-thirds of England’s A & E units. Inspectors are blaming the underfunding of council care services for causing the severe overcrowding in England’s hospitals.

Emergency health care has long been criticised for its poor waiting times and overcrowded rooms. The Care Quality Commission review has said that emergency care was one of the poorest-performing parts of the health system. It cited Council Care cuts as one of the reasons behind this damning
review.

Safety was cited as a major weakness in the review with 22 of 184 units rated inadequate, and a further 95 requiring improvement.

How the Care Quality Commission judges review safety:

    A judgment of “inadequate” is found if there is overcrowding, delays in resuscitation bays, or delays in getting access to key equipment.
  • “Requires improvement” is for less serious issues such as: poor hygiene and cleaning practices; and equipment not being properly checked or monitored.



The CQC Chief Executive David Behan has said the council care system had reached "tipping point" and was in the worst state he could remember during his 38-year career in the system.

Despite government claims that extra money is being pumped into services to help, the CQC has questioned whether this is enough. The regulator has said that rationing council care, including access to home-help for daily tasks, was forcing more old and infirm people into hospital; he states this “is having an impact on A & E - attendances are rising, emergency admissions are going up and there are delays getting patients out of hospital."

The review comes after the BBC revealed that the CQC team monitoring the care market was worried about the future of the sector. With the majority of care being provided by outside agencies but paid for by councils, the CQC raised concerns about the future for care-providers that rely on local authority contracts for business.

When concerned, the CQC can take enforcement actions. These include fines, the closing down of services and also a new power to prosecute the worst offenders. To date there have been two successful prosecutions.

The CQC did also state that there were many examples of good care among the inspections it had carried out. The help being provided both in the home and in care homes was rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in 72% of cases.

Rebecca Thomas, Director of Clinical Negligence at Duncan Lewis states that “the fact that the Care Quality Commission review has identified safety concerns in two thirds of A & E units in England comes as no surprise. Unfortunately, the cuts to care services have resulted in our elderly population turning to A & E and, unsurprisingly, the emergency units are struggling to cope. The resultant rise in attendances, emergency admissions, and delays in discharging elderly patients is likely to result in mistakes being made.”

The Clinical Negligence team at Duncan Lewis have extensive experience representing elderly clients in proceedings against council and private care homes as well as NHS Trusts.

Other specialist areas at Duncan Lewis include: negligence arising from anaesthetic awareness, internal damage to organs, infected wounds, keyhole surgery, neurosurgery, medical equipment/objects left inside patients after surgery, ophthalmological surgery, orthopaedic surgery, birth injury claims, cerebral palsy claims, DVT and bedsore claims, failure to take x-rays/scans, prescription errors and mistakes, A & E failures, anaesthetic mistakes, misdiagnosed cancer, misdiagnosed factures, wrongful death, claims against paramedics, cosmetic surgery claims, private hospital claims, maxillofacial errors and mistakes and nerve and organ damage.

For expert legal advice, call Duncan Lewis clinical negligence solicitors on 0333 772 0409.


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