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County Hospital suspends ‘not clinically safe’ A&E paediatric services

Patients under 18 can no longer be treated at County Hospital in Stafford because the service is “not currently clinically safe”, the hospital has announced.

The Children’s Emergency Centre at the hospital was established last year as part of the transfer of paediatric services from Mid Staffordshire NHS FT to University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM).

Mid Staffordshire was dissolved in 2013 after widespread failings of care at the trust led to hundreds of patients deaths.

However, UHNM said that the centre is “deemed unviable at the current time” after the West Midlands Quality Review Service (WMQRS) found it lacked an adequate number of staff with specific paediatric and anaesthetic training, including resuscitation and life-support competencies.

It said this is partly due to a raising of safety standards for A&E paediatric care in the past year.

The hospital is temporarily suspending services, which sees around 30 children and young people a day.

It said that in the meantime, parents should bring their children to GPs or community pharmacists, or call an ambulance if they need urgent attention, which will take them to an alternative hospital.

Liz Rix, chief nurse and acting deputy chief executive, said: “I fully appreciate the impact these temporary changes will have on families in Stafford and the surrounding area, and understand that people will be very concerned about this news.

“However, we cannot and will not continue to deliver services without the confidence that those services are safe. I want to thank my fellow clinical colleagues for reviewing the situation and for their advice, which has led to us taking this difficult short-term decision. This allows us the space to examine future options for safe children's services at County Hospital with input from our staff, regulators and partners.”

Senior clinicians at the trust have now spoken to staff at the centre and carried out a thorough review of the training they receive.

The trust said it will publish a detailed plan and timescale as soon as possible, which it will share with the public, local CCGs and other stakeholders, and local MP Jeremy Lefroy.

Lefroy said he was “deeply concerned” by the news and was “pushing for this matter to be resolved urgently”.

The most recent CQC report into County Hospital, published in July last year, gave it a ‘requires improvement’ rating overall, including for its children’s and emergency services.

Dr Ann Marie Morris, clinical director and emergency medicine consultant at the trust, said: “I want to reassure parents that we have taken this decision in the best interests of children. Whilst it is regrettable that some children may have to travel further for care, our first priority has to be providing a safe clinical service.

“People view the Children's Emergency Centre as a safety net, but this is only the case when the right number of professionally trained experienced staff are in place at all times. This is not currently the case, and as we cannot resolve this in the short-term the only responsible course of action we can take is to suspend the service."

(Image c. Joe Giddens from PA Wire and Press Association Images)

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