Plaid Cymru’s Social Services Spokesperson Lindsay Whittle has expressed concern that not a single dignity and essential care inspection was carried out at a Welsh hospital during the whole of 2013.
Healthcare Inspectorate Wales chief executive Dr Kate Chamberlain has admitted in a letter to the South Wales East AM that there have been delays because of problems recruiting staff.
In his letter to Dr Chamberlain, Lindsay Whittle wrote: “As you will be aware the issue of dignity and care in hospitals has been in the media spotlight both in England and most recently because of issues raised by relatives of patients at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend.
“I noticed from the Dignity and Essential Care section on your website that not a single report of an inspection was recorded during 2013. Given that this area of hospital care is a matter of concern to many members of the public, can you explain why this is so?”
The last inspection published on its website by the HCI was in October 2012.
Lindsay Whittle, who is a member of the Assembly’s Health and Social Care Committee, said: “These inspections were originally set up as a response to concerns raised by the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales.
“Inspections highlight where there are potential problems that could put patients at risk and can also bring to notice the way elderly people and others are treated in our hospitals. Concerns are still being raised about the treatment of patients, particularly in under-staffed hospitals.”
In response to Mr Whittle, Dr Chamberlain said: “HIW has faced a number of challenges since 2012, particularly in relation to recruitment of key staff, and this did lead to delays in some aspects of our work including reporting. Our programme of Dignity and Essential Care inspections was delayed, but has now resumed. We expect to have conducted seven inspections before the end of March 2014 – fieldwork has already been carried out for two of these.
“During 2014-15 we intend to significantly increase the volume of inspections that we carry out and to change our approach in order to focus groups of inspections on particular themes or settings, for example, community hospitals or diabetes care.
“We will also be setting clear standards for the timeliness of reporting. This step change means that following an inspection, we notify health boards of any required ‘immediate actions’ whilst on site, confirming these in writing within two days. We currently aim to produce a draft report within two weeks, allowing health boards to comment on any factual accuracy issues so that we can publish a final report within two months.”
