Grange Hospital Bosses Insist It Is Safe Despite Online Criticism
Senior staff at the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, Torfaen, say it is safe, despite online claims that it is dangerous and failing. Bosses at Wales' newest hospital say it performs better than many others on patient safety, including survival rates, and they urge seriously unwell people not to be afraid to seek help.
The £350m hospital opened early in September 2020 because of Covid. Since then it has faced concerns about long delays, overcrowding, staff shortages and quality of care. Social media posts have called it "dangerous", "awful" and "a disgrace".
A day in A&E
On the day a BBC team visited, all eight beds in the emergency department's resuscitation unit were full when a call came in for another critically ill patient. More than 90 people were in the department, the longest wait was about 18 hours, and at least eight ambulances were queuing outside. "We're currently over capacity," said Dr Zoe Morgan-Pittard. "The hospital isn't big enough."
Margaret Giles, 84, spent nine hours on a trolley behind some cubicles after slipping and injuring her hip. X-rays showed it was not broken. Her husband Alan said: "I don't think it's the staff, it's the system."
Ambulance handover has improved. The target is to release crews within 45 minutes, and on the day of the visit 33% were released in that time, against 67% over the previous 30 days. Previously crews could wait a whole 12-hour shift. At the Grange, a portacabin with 10 beds and 15 chairs now lets patients prepare to go home or move to another hospital.
Safety record and oversight
Chief operating officer Leanne Watkins said the hospital has among the best mortality rates in Wales and rates "right up there with the best in the UK" for some procedures, such as a fractured neck of femur and emergency surgery. She said the criticism comes from a small number of complaints and lowers public confidence. "It absolutely is a safe hospital," she said, while accepting that delays are unacceptable and that the hospital "could have benefited from some additional beds".
The health board's own data suggests death rates are lower than at similar Welsh hospitals, and that the share of patients dying in the emergency department is below the Welsh average. The Aneurin Bevan health board remains in level four measures, the second highest level of Welsh government oversight, because of worries about urgent and emergency care.
The Welsh government said NHS staff were "working incredibly hard" and that early plans are in place for a challenging winter. It said the health board must show clear improvement plans and better unscheduled care performance.
Source: BBC News