County Hospital, Stafford

Last updated

County Hospital
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
Stafford Hospital Overview.jpg
County Hospital
Staffordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Staffordshire
Geography
Location Stafford, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates 52°48′39″N2°05′54″W / 52.8107°N 2.0983°W / 52.8107; -2.0983
Organisation
Care system Public NHS
Services
Emergency department Yes Accident & Emergency
Beds350
History
Opened1983
Links
Website http://www.midstaffs.nhs.uk/
Lists Hospitals in England

County Hospital is an acute hospital with less than 200 inpatient beds, opened in 1983. It is the main hospital in Stafford, England. [1] The hospital is managed by University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust. County Hospital's Accident and Emergency unit is the only such facility in Stafford. Wards at County Hospital are numbered, with the exception of specialist units. The hospital changed its name on 1 November 2014 from Stafford Hospital to County Hospital as part of the dissolution of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. [2]

Contents

History

Hospital entrance Stafford Hospital Entrance.jpg
Hospital entrance

This hospital was built on the site of Coton Hill private psychiatric hospital which opened in 1854 and was demolished in 1976 with only the old chapel and gatehouse still visible. [3]

When the County Hospital site opened in 1983 it was named Stafford District General Hospital. [4] The hospital was renamed Staffordshire General Hospital when Staffordshire General Infirmary, also in Stafford, closed in the early 1990s and services transferred. [5]

It was widely described as a "showpiece" hospital on its opening. However, in early 1985 it was the site of the second major outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. [4]

In October 2011 a Care Quality Commission inspection found a lack of suitably trained nursing staff on duty in the accident and emergency department. In consequence the department was closed at night for three months to remedy this, and to allow time for staff development. [6]

In January 2013 a police investigation started following the discovery that a dummy had been taped to a baby's face, allegedly by a member of staff. [7]

In 2013 the hospital's regulator, Monitor, warned the trust was close to insolvent. Over the past five years there had been a 67% drop in the number of patients, largely due to a loss of patient's confidence following the Stafford Hospital scandal, and annual income had fallen by nearly £4 million. [8] Stafford Hospital's mortality rate is now amongst the best within the West Midlands. [9]

In July 2013 two Stafford Hospital nurses were struck off the nursing register for falsifying A&E discharge times between 2000–2010 to avoid breaches of four-hour waiting targets. [10]

In May 2015 it was announced that children's services and eight beds for haematology and oncology patients would be transferred away from the hospital to Royal Stoke University Hospital and Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust as part of larger specialist wards. The day case chemotherapy suite is to undergo a £2m investment in facilities and a new chemotherapy suite will open at Cannock Hospital. [11]

The Accident and Emergency service for children was withdrawn in August 2016 because the trust did not have enough specialist doctors to keep it open, but a minor injury unit for children was opened in October 2016. [12]

In September 2017 it was reported that 45 patients could not be discharged because of the lack of community and domiciliary services. Staffordshire County Council said they could not meet the delayed transfer of care targets. [13]

Stafford Hospital scandal

The hospital has been at the centre of the major scandal in which numerous newspapers estimated that because of the substandard care between 400 and 1,200 more patients died between 2005 and 2008 than would be expected for the type of hospital. [14] [15] In February 2010, an independent investigation recommended that the regulator, Monitor, de-authorise the Foundation Trust status. [16] The official investigation and report showed that the method used to collect mortality statistics was deeply flawed and so gave a false result. The Francis Report had no definite figure for any deaths caused by neglect or poor care. [17]

In June 2010, the new government announced a full public inquiry, expected to report in March 2011. [18] The final report was published on 6 February 2013, making 290 recommendations. [19] [20]

Support Stafford Hospital

Campaigners in the Support Stafford Hospital group led a 50,000-strong march through the centre of Stafford in April 2013 - a rally where protesters waved banners saying "Stafford saved my dad" and "Stafford looks after my son". The group said "We need to have an intensive care unit here, we need to have an accident and emergency 24 hours a day and we believe that's possible". [21] A protest camp with more than 30 tents was established outside the hospital by the group in July 2014. Julian Porter, one of the founders of the camp said he feared increased journey times for patients making the trip from Stafford to one of the other hospitals could risk lives and increase the burden elsewhere. [22]

A meeting was organised by Jeremy Lefroy MP in March 2015 to discuss a leaked KPMG report for NHS England which suggested shrinking the hospital and turning it into a rehabilitation and elective surgery centre. Campaigner Cheryl Porter called for an all-party delegation to London to demand the reinstatement of a fully functioning hospital. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monitor (NHS)</span>

Monitor was an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health, responsible between 2004 and 2016 for ensuring healthcare provision in NHS England was financially effective. It was the sector regulator for health services in England. Its chief executive was Ian Dalton and it was chaired by Dido Harding. Monitor was merged with the NHS Trust Development Authority to form NHS Improvement on 1 April 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford Hospital</span> Hospital in England

Bedford Hospital is a 400-bed district general hospital located in the English town of Bedford, serving the Borough of Bedford and parts of Central Bedfordshire, run by the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Nicholson (civil servant)</span>

Sir David Nicholson is a public policy analyst and NHS Manager who is the Chair of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and Chair of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. He was previously the Chief Executive of the National Health Service in England. He was appointed in October 2011 following the NHS reforms, having been seventh Chief executive of the NHS within the Department of Health since September 2006. He issued what has become known as the "Nicholson challenge" regarding the finances of the NHS. He retired from the role on 1 April 2014 in the wake of the Stafford Hospital scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Midlands Ambulance Service</span> Ambulance trust in England

The West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS) is responsible for providing NHS ambulance services within the West Midlands region of England. It is one of ten ambulance trusts providing England with emergency medical services, and is part of the National Health Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furness General Hospital</span> Hospital in North West England

Furness General Hospital (FGH) is a hospital located in the Hawcoat area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is managed by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musgrove Park Hospital</span> Hospital in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broomfield Hospital</span> Hospital in Essex, England

Broomfield Hospital is an acute district general hospital in Chelmsford, Essex. It is managed by the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of the National Health Service (England)</span>

Criticism of the National Health Service (England) includes issues such as access, waiting lists, healthcare coverage, and various scandals. The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded health care system of England, created under the National Health Service Act 1946 by the post-war Labour government of Clement Attlee. It has come under much criticism, especially during the early 2000s, due to outbreaks of antibiotic resistant infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile infection, waiting lists, and medical scandals such as the Alder Hey organs scandal. However, the involvement of the NHS in scandals extends back many years, including over the provision of mental health care in the 1970s and 1980s (ultimately part of the reason for the Mental Health Act 1983), and overspends on hospital newbuilds, including Guy's Hospital Phase III in London in 1985, the cost of which shot up from £29 million to £152 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust</span> NHS hospital trust in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stafford Hospital scandal</span> English scandal

The Stafford Hospital scandal concerns poor care and high mortality rates amongst patients at the Stafford Hospital, Stafford, England, during the first decade of the 21st century. The hospital was run by the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, and supervised by the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority. It has been renamed County Hospital. The scandal also resulted in the resignation of NHS Chief Sir David Nicholson in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust</span>

The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was a NHS foundation trust which managed two hospitals in Staffordshire, England:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinchingbrooke Hospital</span> Hospital in England

Hinchingbrooke Hospital is a small district general hospital in Hinchingbrooke near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Opened in 1983, it serves the Huntingdonshire area, and has a range of specialities as well as an emergency department and a maternity unit. The hospital is managed by the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furness General Hospital scandal</span>

The Furness General Hospital scandal involves an investigation by Cumbria Constabulary and other government and public bodies into the deaths of several mothers and newborn babies, during the 2000s at Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Cases date back to 2004, with a number of major incidents occurring in 2008. The death of Joshua Titcombe and a suppressed report by the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust brought the spotlight onto FGH in 2011 when investigations began. Claims of medical records being intentionally destroyed alongside the discovery of major wrongdoing on behalf of midwives led to threats of closure to the maternity ward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trafford General Hospital</span> NHS hospital

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Wight NHS Trust</span>

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Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is the main provider of hospital services for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and North Powys. It runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, Oswestry Maternity Unit, and Wrekin Community Clinic, Euston House, Telford, in Shropshire, England. It is one of a small number of English NHS Trusts which takes patients from over the border in Wales.

Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust was an NHS trust which ran Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, St Peter's Hospital in Maldon, St Michael's Hospital in Braintree and formerly St John's Hospital in Chelmsford until its closure in 2010.

The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust was created on 1 November 2014. It runs Royal Stoke University Hospital, formerly run by the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust and the County Hospital. It was formed after the dissolution of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. The trust is currently under the leadership of chair David Wakefield and chief executive Tracy Bullock.

Sir Robert Anthony Francis, KC is a British barrister. He specialises in medical law, including medical and mental health treatment and capacity issues, clinical negligence and professional discipline. He has appeared as a barrister for and chaired several high-profile inquiries into medical controversies/scandals.

Healthcare in Staffordshire was the responsibility of six clinical commissioning groups until July 2022, covering Stafford & Surrounds, North Staffordshire, South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula, East Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, and Stoke-on-Trent.

References

  1. ↑ Investigation into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (PDF), Healthcare Commission, March 2009, pp. 16–17, ISBN   978-1-84562-220-6 , retrieved 6 May 2009
  2. ↑ "Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust healthcare comes to an end". BBC (Stoke-on-Trent). BBC. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Chapel, Coton Hill Asylum, Stafford". Staffordshire Past-Track. Archived from the original on 17 March 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Stafford's showpiece hospital". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 1985. Archived from the original on 23 June 2002.
  5. ↑ "About our Trust". Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  6. ↑ "Stafford Hospital's A&E department to close at night". BBC. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Dummy taped to baby's face at Stafford Hospital". BBC. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Stafford Hospital: 'Damaging' fall in public confidence and income". BBC. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  9. ↑ Trystan Jones (7 February 2013). "Rebuilding trust at Stafford Hospital". BBC. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Stafford nurses struck off over waiting times". BBC News Online. 5 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Overnight blood and cancer care axed at Stafford's County Hospital". Express and Star. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Stafford's County Hospital minor injury unit treats over 280 children in two weeks". Express and Star. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "Third of hospital's patients unable to leave as CCGs struggle to fund services". Health Service Journal. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  14. ↑ Rebecca Smith (Medical Editor) (18 March 2009). "NHS targets 'may have led to 1,200 deaths' in Mid-Staffordshire". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2010.{{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  15. ↑ Emily Cook (18 March 2009). "Stafford hospital scandal: Up to 1,200 may have died over "shocking" patient care". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  16. ↑ Robert Francis QC (24 February 2010). Robert Francis Inquiry report into Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. House of Commons. ISBN   978-0-10-296439-4 . Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  17. ↑ Campbell, Denis (6 February 2013). "Mid Staffs hospital scandal: the essential guide". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  18. ↑ Nick Triggle (9 June 2010). "Public inquiry into scandal-hit Stafford Hospital". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  19. ↑ Nick Triggle (6 February 2013). "Stafford Hospital: Hiding mistakes 'should be criminal offence'". BBC. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  20. ↑ Robert Francis QC (6 February 2013). Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry (Report). House of Commons. ISBN   9780102981476 . Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  21. ↑ "Tens of thousands in Support Stafford Hospital march". BBC News. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "The people behind the Stafford Hospital protest camp". BBC News. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  23. ↑ "Stafford hospital: call to take cross-party campaign to Westminster". Staffordshire Newsletter. 7 March 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
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