Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson says he is ‘sadly unsurprised’ by a damning Care Quality Commission (CQC) report into urgent and emergency care at St Mary’s Hospital, saying he witnessed patients being treated in corridors and even a converted cupboard during a visit earlier this year.
As previously reported by Island Echo, the CQC has issued a warning notice to the Isle of Wight NHS Trust following an inspection of urgent and emergency care and medical care, including older people’s services, at St Mary’s Hospital.
Inspectors found patients experiencing long waits, overcrowding and inappropriate care environments, with staff forced to care for people in unsuitable areas. They also intervened directly to secure help for distressed patients during the inspection.
Responding to the findings, MP Joe Robertson said the report reflected exactly what he had seen first-hand.
He said:
“I am sadly unsurprised by the CQC’s findings in relation to emergency care at St Mary’s Hospital. When I visited earlier in the year, I saw for myself people being treated on rows of trolleys and in unsuitable places like a converted cupboard.
“There were also ambulances parked outside with patients still in them because there was no space in the building. The staff were doing their absolute best in impossible circumstances.”
The Isle of Wight East MP said the underlying issue was not solely within the hospital itself, but the continuing pressures facing adult social care on the Island.
He added:
“But the fact remains that one of the biggest contributing factors to this desperate situation is a crisis in social care meaning that people cannot be discharged to a safe home environment and around 25 percent of beds on the wards are occupied by people who do not have a medical reason for being there.
“Until the Government grasps this issue by better supporting our Council the crisis will not be solved. The Island is not a city. The funding rules that apply elsewhere do not work for us and the unique challenges we face.”
The CQC’s inspection highlighted serious concerns about patient safety, overcrowding and the quality of care in St Mary’s emergency department, prompting the regulator to take enforcement action and require the Trust to make urgent improvements.
St Mary’s has not been fit for purpose for years.
It is a bullying institution.
Much rather travel to the Mainland for proper treatment.
Worth every penny.
I agree nurses work hard and have staffing issues that’s without a doubt but having spent countless hours there, there are also a lot of staff with very poor English and understanding.
I’ve sat in A and E where there is so much confusion and people already being seen are having their names repeated in the waiting room.
My husband sat for 11 hours in the same day waiting room to see wether he would have transport to Southampton. He was offered no food or water, i found out after the entire day,and when they closed was shipped to A and E where he was eventually put on a drip.
It was the following morning at 8 he was finally given some weetabix and transport was arranged
Totally unacceptable for someone so ill.
Crucial appointments missed due to communication and mix up with days and dates.
Too many officials and not enough workers.
Yes, I agree the system does need looking into.
I know that adult social care is expensive but is the problem here solely financial or do we have a shortage of carers even if funds were made available to pay them?
Get the olde chocolate teapot WRIGERLY QUIGERLEY on the case. He will talk about it and do nothing as usual . He don’t care about island residents being treated in corridors or cupboards. He’s on his 100k salary with private healthcare so it won’t effect him.
seemingly sidestepping the fact that the Conservatives did their damdest to dismantle the NHS ,in any way possible for their American friends in private healthcare,you have no right to comment Joe unless your going to help A)get a new small hospital built B) or get funding for St Mary’s unless you can help with that Joe do t comment on a situation your party created
It’s not just in A&E let me tell you
Sadly the decimation of the NHS goes right back to Thatchers days, The tories have always hated the NHS and have always done their best to ruin it. I think the real last straw was Johnson and his cronies, who were given jobs ministering it that never had a clue what they were ministering, and got away with screwing the NHS and the tax payers out of millions of pounds and still getting away with it to this day, and believing in a PPE count, that one glove was a pair