Health concerns

PATIENTS group Cure the NHS claims thousands more people have died than expected at local hospitals and it’s campaigning to end poor standards of care.

Reporter Richard Hooton looks at the issues and how two Oldham families feel their loved ones were failed by the NHS.

CURE the NHS was formed to highlight failings at Stafford Hospital and prompted the Healthcare Commission to find that up to 1,200 more people had died than expected.

Some patients were so thirsty they were drinking water from flower vases, others were left lying in their own mess and staff were not trained to use vital heart monitoring equipment properly.

An initial inquiry found the hospital “routinely neglected” patients after managers became pre-occupied with cost-cutting and targets.

It led to Prime Minister David Cameron blasting care standards there as “appalling” and launching a full public inquiry.

But Cure the NHS claims this is only the tip of the iceberg. It says figures are higher at Pennine Acute Trust, which runs four hospitals including the Royal Oldham.

Statistics compiled by leading health expert Professor Sir Brian Jarman OBE show that 3,107 more people died than expected at their hospitals between 1996/97 and 2007/08. The Mid-Staffordshire Trust had 1,197 unexpected deaths for the same period.

Campaigners have urged those with complaints about the hospitals to get in touch and are determined to expose alleged failings to ensure standards improve.

But the trust has defended itself against the concerns and comparisons with Stafford. It’s pointed out that it is much bigger and cares for far more patients than Mid-Staffordshire and that mortality statistics can be attributable to a range of factors, including the health of the local population.

It says comparing mortality hospital by hospital is complex and difficult.

Chief executive John Saxby said there are several ways of calculating mortality rates and the results can vary widely depending on the methodology.

The trust uses data from CHKS, which shows mortality rates falling year on year. Since 2008, this data shows 832 fewer patients have died in their hospitals than expected.

But he is also taking the concerns seriously and has invited Professor Jarman to work with the trust to analyse mortality data.

He added: “While we do not believe there is an underlying problem with the care we provide, we have to be certain.”

The trust is backed by health regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which says you can’t judge a hospital solely on mortality rates.

Director of intelligence, Richard Hamblin, said it studied mortality rates for 19 individual disease groups. None were higher than expected and three were lower. He added: “This contrasts with Mid-Staffordshire where mortality rates were high, regardless of the methodology used.”

Three reviews into mortality rates over three years did not identify significant concerns about quality of care. There have also been surveys of staff and patients, reviews and inspections.

“While there were improvements needed in some aspects of care, there was no evidence to suggest systematic failings,” said Mr Hamblin.

Two families have raised serious concerns over the Royal Oldham though, following inquests involving loved ones.

The family of Shirley Finan (71) said they were considering taking action over neglect after they uncovered failings.

The much-loved grandmother died from multi-organ failure resulting from a C-diff infection. But relatives say she was not well enough to be initially discharged before being re-admitted and malnutrition played its part because she was not fed properly.

A senior doctor admitted that food charts had not been recorded properly, more could have been done to help her eat and treatment should have been started sooner.

The family of Jean Garside have launched a formal complaint after an inquest into her death.

Mrs Garside, who was suffering from dementia, had been admitted to hospital with dehydration.

But her family had concerns about her treatment straight away, saying it took three days before a drip was fitted.

Daughter Susan Dunn, from Greenacres, says her mother was not eating as no-one was prepared to help her, but food charts were filled in to say she had eaten. Her medication was also left on her tray.

Doctors said an infection had cleared up but she was moved to a discharge lounge in the middle of the night because of a bed shortage and left there for 24 hours.

She was eventually taken to a nursing home but was back in hospital the next day as an emergency admission in a diabetic coma and suffering from kidney failure.

Mrs Dunn said: “You can’t tell me she went from one day being fit to go home to the next being close to death.

“She went from being able to walk around the house and eating with a little help to being unable to move.”

The family was not told how poorly Mrs Garside was and only found out at her inquest that she had pneumonia and septicaemia.

Celia Watson, from Cure the NHS, is urging people with complaints about treatment at Pennine Acute’s hospitals to contact her on 07886-571661 or email celia.watson@googlemail.com.