A healthcare watchdog will examine the safety and quality of care at a major hospital in Scotland. This comes after consultants raised concerns about the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital’s emergency department in Glasgow.
These worries, raised by 29 consultants in May 2023, centered on issues like overcrowding and a lack of staff, which they believed put patients at risk.
Health Service Inspectors (Credits: ITVX)
The watchdog admitted to not thoroughly investigating the evidence over 18 months and to not meeting with the doctors. Instead, they spoke to top executives at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde before closing the case in August last year.
However, in January of this year, complaints were upheld that the doctors had not been given a chance to discuss or present their evidence.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has confirmed that its review will cover a wide range of areas, such as leadership, clinical practices, governance, and operations, focusing on how these affect patient safety and care quality.
Healthcare Practitioners (Credits: The Independent)
Robbie Pearson, the chief executive of HIS, said that the emergency department consultants at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital had expressed concerns that could impact their ability to give safe, effective, and person-centered care. The review aims to look at these issues from all angles.
Mr. Pearson apologized sincerely and unreservedly to the consultants in March. Meanwhile, First Minister Humza Yousaf expressed frustration with how patient safety complaints were initially handled and encouraged all staff in the health service to feel empowered to raise concerns.
