PATIENT care at the Royal Blackburn Hospital has been branded 'disgraceful' after a catalogue of major problems were revealed in a staff survey.

A combination of a surge in admissions and £8.7million cuts mean there are not enough nurses to adequately treat patients, according to UNISON.

Problems highlighted by staff include:

  • Patients being left in urine-soaked beds.
  • A lack of basic equipment, including oxygen masks, dressings, incontinence pads, drugs and fluids on some wards.
  • Patients being sent from emergency departments when beds are not ready and bays being opened that cannot be supervised.
  • Stroke patients who need immediate assessment within 30 minutes by a specialist not being seen for many hours.
  • Staff being told they cannot take holidays, even if booked and signed off.
  • Stroke ward B2 Nurses reported being ‘constantly stressed’, ‘tearful’ and suffering chest pains while trying to care for patients and deal with emergency admissions with inadequate staff and resources
  • Medical Assessment Unit Staff said they felt pressured to transfer unsuitable patients to escalation wards and had to open bays that couldn’t be staffed adequately
  • Ward C14 Shortage of equipment such as oxygen masks, dressings, incontinence pads and staff being moved to cover escalation wards
  • Ward C2 Gastroenterology Nurses borrowed leaving the ward short staffed. Staff reported one trained and one auxiliary nurse for 24 beds
  • Ward C22 Urology Nurses said they often had no intravenous (IV) fluids and had to go to other wards to get drugs

UNISON, which carries out its survey twice a year, said the latest findings showed a situation that was 'as bad as it has ever been'.

Tim Ellis, UNISON regional officer for East Lancashire, added: “The shortages of resources, the standards of care and the situation staff and patients are in is disgraceful.”

The trust has now failed to reach its target of 95 per cent of patients attending A&E being seen within four hours for five weeks running.

Critics said the problems were evidence that the Royal Blackburn could not cope with all of East Lancashire's emergency patients and that an A&E department should be re-instated at Burnley General Hospital.

Hospital bosses said the Royal Blackburn had been under 'extraordinary pressure' and praised staff for 'going above and beyond the call of duty'. But they believe latest performance figures, due to be published later this week, will show a big improvement.

East Lancashire Hospitals has been seen record numbers of flu patients this winter, and there was also an increase in admissions of elderly people during the big freeze.

An extra 45 beds were opened in a 'winter escalation unit' to try to meet demand.

But the UNISON survey found staffing the additional beds had left other wards short.

Mr Ellis, from UNISON, said they had laid the problems out to hospital bosses in two letters, but the necessary action had not yet been taken.

He said: "This is as bad as it has ever been.

“Many staff and patients have expressed concerns about the standards on the wards. The flu epidemic of previous years was worse, but then there were more staff available.

“Staff are working very hard to try and deal with the patients, but there is insufficient resources, staff or equipment, and there is concern about patient care."

Mr Ellis said the picture on the wards was worse than usual because of cost-cutting ordered by the Government.

The trust must achieve a saving of £8.7million by April this year, and £50million through cutbacks during the next three years.

He said this meant staff numbers were being 'run down' and numbers of agency staff had been slashed. Mr Ellis added: “There is exceptional demand and they are unable to meet this exceptional demand."

Coun Dorothy Walsh, health scrutiny chairman, said: “Everything is upside down. There are a lot of communication problems. I see lots of things happening and to me it is wrong."

Gordon Birtwistle, Burnley MP and hospital campaigner, said 'arrogant' hospital bosses were reaping the rewards of the 'appalling decision' to close Burnley's A&E department and move emergency care to Blackburn in 2007.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Jake Berry said: "I hope the management of the hospital will be undertaking an urgent review to find out where the problems lie."

Lynn Wissett, deputy chief executive of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said the hospital had been under ‘severe and extraordinary’ pressure.

She said: "All our staff have gone above the call of duty to provide the highest possible standards of care throughout this time, while consultant teams have ensured every patient is seen by a consultant every day.

“Escalation plans are, by definition, extraordinary measures taken in times of severe pressure, and we recognise that they place significant demands on clinical staff.

“I would like to thank them all once again for the dedication and professionalism they continue to show despite the pressures they are under.”