Lawyer Calls For Action And Answers Following Inspection

Medical law experts at Irwin Mitchell have urged an NHS Trust in the north-east to work quickly to address concerns raised about St George’s Park hospital in Morpeth following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The body has published a report of its inspection at the end of November, where concerns were raised about issues including unsuitable premises and the availability of skilled staff to meet the needs of patients.

In addition, medicine management was also deemed to be inappropriate, while some problems were also identified in relation to record-keeping.

Angela Kirtley, a Partner and expert in medical law and patients’ rights at Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle office, has welcomed the findings of the investigation and called on Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust to work quickly to address the problems.

She outlined: “It is very disappointing to see these findings and the families and loved ones of patients at the site will undoubtedly be seeking answers as to how these problems emerged, as well as what is being done to tackle them.

“Vulnerable members of society in care need to be able to get access to quality standards of support, so it is absolutely vital that everything is done to ensure this is the case.

“We hope the CQC’s report leads to a quick reaction which will ensure that improvements are made and lessons learned from this problem. Patient safety must always come first.”