'Staff weren’t clear on what to do if a child was in a crisis': Children's hospital told to improve
A health watchdog has told the trust which runs Birmingham Children's Hospital to make improvements to its urgent and emergency services after finding an "overall decline" in the quality of care provided.
The chief executive of the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust said he was "disappointed" with the outcome of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, following an unannounced inspection in January.
The CQC was prompted to pay a visit to the emergency department at the hospital after receiving "information of concern" about the safety and quality of the service provided.
In their report, inspectors noted the service "did not always" control the risk of infection well.
They also said staff didn't always store or manage medicines safely or securely and controlled drug recording "did not always" follow the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.
The report found that while mandatory training in "key skills" was provided by the service, this was "not always" completed by staff.
Inspectors further said there was "limited provision" for assessing patients with "acute mental health needs".
The layout of the urgent and emergency services department at the hospital was also criticised, as it was noted that staff "did not always have sight" of all people waiting which "could place people at risk".
