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An angry councillor in Wales has highlighted a growing number of complaints about a huge health board – with one of its hospitals singled out for protests, when it had already been accused of poor treatment in a “damning” report, it has emerged.
Figures have revealed that the Aneurin Bevan Health Board (ABHB) paid out £4,625 in compensation over the last year, with complaints against The Grange University Hospital (GUH) in Cwmbran totalling 745.
Official grievances faced by ABHB are 3,107, and 51 have gone to the Ombudsman.
The figures have been disclosed in an alarming letter from Councillor Kevin Etheridge of Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) to the South Wales Argus (SWA) last week.
He wrote: “I have received an increased number of complaints about the health board and wish to make it clear none are against the nurses, doctors and staff who work so hard for our communities…This is most concerning and worrying”.
GUH has hit the headlines before, and a scathing report was released only last year, so today’s news is likely to fuel controversy about the standard of service there.
In November 2022, it was reported that inspectors who paid a surprise visit called for urgent improvements at its accident and emergency (A&E) department, although the hospital had only opened the previous year.
A team from the Health Inspectorate Wales (HIW) turned up unannounced at the hospital on three consecutive days in August of that year, and in their report said they “were not assured that the processes and systems in place were sufficient to ensure that patients consistently received an acceptable standard of care”.
Echoing Councillor Etheridge’s comments, the HIW chief executive Alun Jones called the findings “extremely concerning”, and even ABHB said it “recognised” issues raised with the A&E waiting area and patient flow. Improvement work was conducted to address the problems.
Inspectors at the time flagged up a series of factors which needed “immediate assurance”, including:
- A risk of cross contamination in an area known as the “Covid corridor”.
- Resuscitation equipment not being checked daily.
- Out-of-date medicines.
- A lack of security around substances which could be harmful to patients, such as medication and prescription pads.
Inspectors said staff were “striving” to give “good quality, safe and effective care”, but that there was “increasing pressure and demand on the department” which meant A&E workers “could not always deliver care to the standard they wanted”.
Inspectors recommended the “very small and cramped” waiting room in the A&E department be improved “to ensure that it is fit for purpose”.
Some patients had been sitting in ambulances or on “uncomfortable” chairs for more than 15 hours, the inspection team found.
“Until the flow of patients into and through the department can be improved, the health board will find it challenging to address a number of our concerns”, they added.
The health board was urged by Mr Davies to “take action… so that patients receive safe, timely and effective care”.
He stated: “I hope this report will accelerate the measures taken to drive forward timely improvements”.
There were also problems with patient flow at other hospitals in the area too, which was an obstacle to “dignified and timely care”.
Peter Fox, the Conservative (C) MS for Monmouth, said the report was “damning” and renewed calls for improvements.
“Patients and families expect nothing less than basic principles of care and safety when in hospital – which sadly appear to be lacking”, he said.
The report painted “…a disturbing picture of a struggling hospital”, according to Peredur Owen Griffiths, Plaid Cymru (PC) MS for the South Wales East region.
“Despite the best efforts of the dedicated staff at the Grange, patients are waiting for far too long in a hospital waiting room that is too small and too uncomfortable”, he warned.
“…it beggars belief that such fundamental flaws have become apparent so soon”.
Mr Griffiths proclaimed: “There (was)…an urgency to get this sorted before the inevitable added pressure that comes every winter. There is no time for the health minister to lose”.
It seems that there may still be major issues to sort out, if a councillor recently said he had received a growing number of complaints about a Welsh health board, with this hospital singled out…
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