Nine Covid-19 patients died after receiving ‘poor care' at Walsall hospital
Nine people who died after contracting coronavirus received “poor” care at a Black Country hospital, a review has found.
Experts examined nearly 200 Covid-19 deaths at Walsall Manor Hospital, with nine patients considered to have been given either poor or very poor care.
The vast majority of those who died – 186 – received excellent, good or adequate care, a Structured Judgement Review found.
Like others across the UK, Walsall Manor was inundated with patients at the height of the pandemic as heroic NHS workers struggled to cope with the pressure brought by the pandemic.
As of August 17, a total of 225 coronavirus patients had died at the hospital. Of these, 195 were included in the review.
A total of 70 per cent were white and 19 per cent BAME. The others were not known.
The average age of those who died was 76 and frailty was identified in two-thirds of deaths.
More than half of Covid-19 patients who went into intensive care at Walsall Manor died, with the 52 per cent total higher than the national average of 40 per cent.
The report also showed that up to June, 104 positive patients out of a total of 616 had “probably or definitely” contracted the virus during their stay in hospital.
The nine cases suspected to have involved poor care have been flagged up by the review team.
The report said: “By June 27, 2020, 206 patients had died; a Structured Judgment Review was carried out by a group of senior consultants on the 195 case notes that were available for analysis.
“The standard of care was considered adequate, good or excellent (scores 3, 4 or 5) in 186 cases; care was poor or very poor (1, 2) in nine cases, which were subsequently raised through the incident reporting system.”
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust was contacted for comment.
