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Unannounced inspection of Medway Maritime hospital results in warning

This article was published on March 12th, 2014

The Medway Maritime Hospital has been under a lot of scrutiny recently following reports in October and December which called into question the hospitals quality of care.

One report by the CQC issued three formal warnings over poor maternity care and another said the trust had significantly higher than expected death rates.

Medway, which is now in special measures, has also been identified in February as having the worst A&E waiting times in the country with figures showing nearly 1 in 4 patients having to wait over four hours to be seen.

NHS data shows that in the first week of February (2-9^th), 1,815 people visited the A&E department and, of these, 414 patients (22.8%) waited over four hours. Government targets state that emergency departments are supposed to see 95% of patients within four hours but the struggling hospital has missed this target every week since the beginning of 2014.

The CQC has now issued Medway NHS Foundation Trust with a formal warning following an unannounced inspection which was prompted by “anonymous concerns”. It found the A&E department to be a cause for concern with evidence of bloodstained and dirty paintwork, radiators and floors with people left waiting on trolleys for hours at a time without basic care such as water and blankets in some cases.

The Kent hospital apologised for “letting patients down”.

A chief nurse, Steve Hams, said: “We are sorry that the emergency department failed to live up to the high standards of care we want to provide for our patients and which they have a right to expect.”

“The emergency department was designed to treat 50,000 patients a year, but now it is treating 90,000 and rising. We know it is not suitable for emergency and critical care in the modern world and are working hard to put it right.”

If you have been a victim of poor NHS care or know someone who may have been then please contact our specialist solicitors now on 0800 1979 345 for an informal chat to discuss your potential medical negligence claim. You have a right to good quality health care and we need to identify poor practice to prevent repeated medical negligence.

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Unannounced inspection of Medway Maritime hospital results in warning

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