CQC Report on Royal Cornwall Hospital

Frontline staff deserve more support, George 

Responding to today’s CQC report on RCHT, local MP and member of the Commons Health Select Committee, Andrew George, said: 

“This shouldn’t be interpreted as a criticism of frontline staff. They go the extra mile in extremely difficult and stressful circumstances and work under the most intense pressure to provide a 24/7 emergency service. The Emergency Department and the Urgent Treatment Centre operate in a climate of the most extreme precariousness. With the risk of tipping into a major incident and failure at almost any moment. 

“I met Steve Williamson and senior staff at West Cornwall Hospital a few days ago when the current state of the Emergency Department and the Urgent Treatment Centre was a key item for discussion. Ever since the Trust was obliged to follow central diktat to cut hospital beds, even while pressure from demand, demographics and population growth increased pressure on the emergency front door of the hospital, the service has struggled, with ambulance queues, corridor care and improvisation, while the hospital has been operating at close to 100% bed occupancy. 

“This problem is especially acute the further west you go in a long peninsula, leaving those in the far west most vulnerable. 

“This situation is unsustainable. Government ministers must now recognise this and act.”