Undercover A&E: NHS in Crisis: Dispatches documented patient experiences in A&E over three months at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
In one example a suspected stroke patient was left waiting in a Fit to Sit area for 24 hours. Patients were observed waiting 12 hours or more on trolleys in corridors and going for hours without eating. The documentary also revealed poor infection control practices, staffing shortages and patients not being given regular observations. In one incident a male patient was forced to urinate in a bottle while being cared for in a corridor.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust apologised to people ‘affected by long waiting times, overcrowding and a lack of privacy when accessing emergency care'.
The trust said it was investing and making steady improvements which had been noted in its last CQC report which saw an upgrade from inadequate to requires improvement.
It said it had invested in additional staffing, catering and digital technology to ensure observations were carried out in time.
The trust's A&E patient numbers have grown by 13% since 2019/20, compared with a 5% rise nationally, with 26,700 patients supported in April and May 2024 alone.
It is seeking to ease pressure on A&E through increasing capacity at rehabilitation units, expanding community, social care services and virtual wards, and supporting direct access for GP emergency admissions.
Lorraine Tedeschini, CQC director of operations for the Midlands, said: ‘We take all concerns raised seriously. All information received about a registered service is used to identify potential areas of risk, guide our regulatory activity and, where appropriate, can result in regulatory action. We are reviewing the information shared by Quicksilver Media and will be following up as appropriate.'
NHS England said the scenes observed in the documentary were ‘not commonplace' across the country and the trust was receiving the ‘highest level of national support'.
Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England's National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, said: ‘While the health service is facing significant demand for services, with more people attending A&Es in England in May than any other month on record and attendances and emergency admissions up almost 20% on a decade ago, the NHS has a detailed plan to overhaul urgent care services, including offering greater use of same day emergency care and urgent community response teams, and by delivering an extra 5,000 core beds in hospitals.
‘Thanks to these measures and the dedication of NHS staff, latest data shows 20% more patients were seen in A&Es within four hours in May compared with the same month last year – and the NHS will continue to work closely with the most challenged trusts and colleagues in local authorities to help speed up discharge and free up beds for those who need them most.'
Acting general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: "Nursing staff have called for chair care lasting longer than 24 hours to become an NHS "never event", in the same way as having the wrong limb operated on. Mandatory national reporting must also be introduced to urgently reveal the extent of patients being cared for in inappropriate places.
‘Long delays in A&E are symptoms of a system in crisis. The next Government will be elected in a matter of days and serious and significant investment across health and care needs to be an urgent priority.'
