Patient safety

Stafford hospital nurses lied to meet A&E targets, inquiry hears

Senior nurses at Stafford hospital faked records to meet A&E waiting time targets, a Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) inquiry has been told.  

Two nurses, Sharon Turner and Tracy White, are facing misconduct charges and are alleged to have falsely logged patients as discharged early to meet four-hour targets.

They have also been accused of inappropriately transferring patients to other departments when they had not yet been properly assessed, or because they knew there were no beds.

Turner is said to have racially abused a junior doctor, and both are reported to have bullied other staff into changing records.

White faces five charges of misconduct ranging from March 2006 to July 2010, while Turner faces six over July 2007 to October 2009.

Hannah Eales, for the NMC, said: “There were a number of matters of concern which occurred in A&E. There was a lot of pressure on staff to meet the four-hour target, and a failure to meet it would result in investigation from higher management, which would result in staff being reprimanded.”

Whistleblower Helene Donnelly told the inquiry: “The demands by Sister White and Sister Turner would appear frequently, during almost every shift.

“Sister Turner and Sister White would often demand I or my colleagues change the discharge times to avoid a breach. They would frequently lie about discharge times, and pressurise members of staff to lie.

“They would speak nastily and swear at people who did not change the times, or would change the times themselves. To me, falsifying patient records seemed insane.

“I was told, in no uncertain terms, if we did not meet targets heads would roll. I was concerned about the terrible consequences our actions would have on patient care.”

Turner has admitted calling a colleague 'stupid', and another charge of saying “I don't give a flying f***” when discussing patients. But she and White deny all the remaining charges against them.

The hearing continues.

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