M.E.N. demands probe into Tameside Hospital

Amanda Crook

February 08, 2010

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The M.E.N. today calls for an independent investigation into the crisis-hit Tameside General Hospital.

Nicknamed Shameside, it has been at the centre of a catalogue of damning incidents.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham has backed our call. His spokesman said: “Patient safety is our top priority and he has been in contact with the regulator to ask for urgent assurances.”

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Hospital crisis timeline

Tameside and Glossop’s four MPs are now calling for the hospital’s top bosses – including chief executive Christine Green – to resign after years of failing to improve it.

Tameside General’s record of shame includes:

Scoring just 4.8 out of 100 for patient safety in an independent report
Having its care described as ‘absolutely ‘despicable’ and ‘chaotic’ by a coroner after he heard inquests into the deaths of four elderly people in one day
Mortuary staff releasing the wrong body so one family cremated a stranger and another family was left unable to bury their dead great-grandmother
Patients’ groups being inundated with complaints about failings in basic care on wards
Government watchdogs slamming the hygiene standards.

The MPs are supporting our call for a full, open investigation of Tameside Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by the Care Quality Commission. Because the hospital is run by an independent foundation trust, only the board or regulator monitor can make management changes.

Stalybridge and Hyde MP James Purnell said: “The problems are such that a fundamental change in management is needed to restore confidence as well as deal with the problems.”

A report by Dr Foster, an independent body which collects information on health services, put Tameside in the bottom 12 of more than 150 trusts in England and highlighted its death rate - the third highest in the country - for emergency patients and people with strokes, heart attacks and broken hips.

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, Ashton MP David Heyes and High Peak MP Tom Levitt are also calling for radical changes.

A spokeswoman for the regulator Monitor said: “We take these concerns seriously and are working with the Care Quality Commission to understand whether there is any basis for us to take regulatory action.”

A Commission spokesman said: “We have been studying the trust’s mortality data and we are continuing to look carefully at this. If it were necessary, we would not hesitate to take action to protect patients.”

A hospital spokeswoman said: “We would like to reassure our MPs and our public that we are an improving hospital and that we take the issue of mortality very seriously.

“The trust, our local MPs and our NHS partners are all aware that the mortality rates at Tameside Hospital are higher than average. This is not something we are complacent about and we have been taking actions to tackle this for some time now.”

The hospital’s director of nursing said they had resolved the failings in infection control highlighted by the inspection.

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Swamp Donkey, Shadybridge (08/02/2010 at 09:15)

The frontline individuals we've met during our many encounters with Tameside Hospital have been hard working and caring.

Trouble is, there was never enough of them to ensure good patient care was maintained.

Communication was consitantly poor and parking is an absolute rip off.

And yes - our 85 year old mum is terrified of "going in" because she's had so many of her friends come out in a box.

Overall a good bunch of people who don't seem to be part of a team......

J.Hall, Tameside (08/02/2010 at 10:20)

What a cynical move by Tameside Politicians in fineally putting their heads above the parapets,shouting for Heads to Role a few weeks before National and Local Elections and their desperate need to maintain their roles in Tameside,which includes the Councils own Health Scutiny Panels where Councillors can act to involve themselves in the deaths and negligence issues widely reported for years by the Coroner,Hospital Consultants,Independent Reports and the Public Complaints year after year So lets look at the health facts in Tameside,and the other administrations who run OUR HEALTH care,whether it be the Primary Care Trust,Tameside Council Scrutiny Panels,and the Tameside MP`s why are they not all in this frame of neglect and deaths,because they are also all paid to protect the Health and Welfare of Communities of those in the area.
A cynical move to maintain powers and political administrations is also being utilised.which I find disgusting

hjk (08/02/2010 at 10:55)

I can't believe the people that run Tameside Hospital still have the gaul to stay put. If they had any descency about them they would have resigned on the other hand if this had been private industry they would have been sacked a long time ago.

BluePurgatory, Manchester (08/02/2010 at 11:01)

I was vising a sick relative on a daily basis over a 2 week period. The problem is that there are not enough ward staff. On one evening there were two nurses trying to cope with 3 -4 wards. It was evident they were stressed out and this is not good for patient care. One elderly patient was asking for the toilet, I had to go and look for a nurse to get her some basic attention. We need to go back to the matron period when health came before profit and cost.

blue nose 123, Manchester (08/02/2010 at 11:02)

my nephew got moved to tameside when he was 4 months old he was in the neonatal unit/SCBU and the nurses and staff were brilliant with him and our family and i was really dreading the thought of him going there but they were lovely.
Unfortunately this isnt always the case as seen in the past few months

Theresa Wych (08/02/2010 at 11:09)

Personally having been at TGH with various family members over the last few months I have found the staff to be caring and helpful but extremely thin on the ground.Too many chiefs not enough indians

Savage Mandarin, Manchester (08/02/2010 at 11:10)

"Nicknamed Shameside..."

By whom? Not by me, or anybody I know.

stalyvegasblue (08/02/2010 at 12:21)

It's a case of too many Cheif's .....

dessie, manchester (08/02/2010 at 12:58)

TOO MANY PENPUSHERS NOT ENOUGH FRONTLINE STAFF!!!

PW, Manchester (08/02/2010 at 12:59)

My elderly Mum is undergoing treatment at TGH for something quite serious, and she cannot praise the staff too highly. I suspect the problems have been down to management.

Careless Whisper (08/02/2010 at 13:12)

I had recently had a vasectomy at Tameside Hospital and I was awake throughout the whole procedure. The staff were kind considerate and tending to my every needs, whilst explaining the whole procedure to me step by step and keeping me comfortable. If I was to decide to go back for a reversal, I would definately use Tameside again. No problem.

Mad Welsh Scotsman, Cadishead (08/02/2010 at 13:21)

Part of the problem, along with all NHS trusts, not just Tameside is that originally, they were providing a service paid for by national insurance, nowadays it's a cost cutting organisation and one reason is that too many so called 'disabled' have drained the system dry and I'm not referring to the real disabled people, I'm talking about those with ahem! bad backs, which strangely only came about when they left school. or the teenage girls who chose motherhood as a career option. Add to this the high cost of analysts and penpushers etc and there is not much left for where it matters i.e. nurses and doctors

Gary SK13- , Glossop SK13 (08/02/2010 at 13:28)

I know of 3 people who have been admitted to Tameside in the last 18 months, none of them ever came out. One of the people in question was my father in law who died because of a catalouge of errors. The best care he recieved in the hospital was in the ICU, but by then it was too late.

Mike S, Manchester (08/02/2010 at 13:55)

I didn't know Asterix was a member of the management at Tameside Hospital...

mossleymike, Mossley (08/02/2010 at 15:46)

As is often the case in many areas of society these days ... one very very loud publicity-seeking complaint tends to overshadow the 99 compliments ... because it's a better story isn't it ??

Charles Harris, Mottram in Longdendale (08/02/2010 at 15:55)

"I had recently had a vasectomy at Tameside Hospital and I was awake throughout the whole procedure."

A little different if it had been major bowel surgery and you had been awake and paralysed throughout the procedure!

A simple procedure like vasectomy under local anaesthesia is hard to botch but I wouldn't have one in Tameside for fear of post-operative infection.

The problem in Tameside is that people are too easily convinced of the hospital's and its staffs' competence by the pretty pictures on the wall and whether a nurse or auxiliary offers them a cup of tea when they are visiting a relative.Too many people however also see a hospital as having to provide 5-star accomodation and service - "Nurse,nurse,my Mum needs a drink of water!"

The real problems lie not only in poor nursing care, in not using aseptic techniques for dressing changes,non-existent hand-hygiene but above all also in poor skills,incompetence and lack of care in medical and surgical staff both junior and senior.

Hospitals get reputations for being risky to work in if ,as a healthcare professional,you care for what is on your CV and your prospects of moving up in a specialty and working in better more prestigious hospitals.Tameside has been in this situation for many years now.With a Medical School of world class repute and Teaching Hospitals likewise so close nearby in Manchester,why do so few Manchester Trained specialists fill senior posts at Tameside when they do so in the surrounding hospitals?Lack of opportunity for private practice ( it pays the childrens' school fees) is one thing but but a hospital's abysmal reputation as a professional working environment is the overwhelming deterrent and the hospital administration is responsible for that.

Tameside in the view of many healthcare professionals in the Region is beyond redemption and a merger with a major neighbouring acute trust is the only viable solution to restoring peoples' belief in their local Tameside hospital.More people than just the Chief Executive and Director of Nursing would have to go in that event.

manchester girl (08/02/2010 at 16:45)

I watched with horror as nurses washed their hands dried them on the paper towels them lifted the lid of the pedal bin with their clean hands, placed the towels in and patted the lid down, where is the infection control team.
A side ward on mens surgical had the wall paper border hanging off, there shouldnt have been a paper border, let alone a torn one.
trouble is if you call an ambulance you are taken to Tameside, my relatives have strict instructions to put me in a car and drive me elsewhere.

petan, openshaw (08/02/2010 at 17:09)

I was admitted to Tameside as an emergency in 2008 and then again last January for an operation. In both instances I could not fault the wards I was on they were well cleaned on a daily basis.Where possiible the patients were sat on a chair while the mattress was wiped down and all the metal work on the beds. The nurses themselves were extremely busy through lack of staff but always had a smile on their faces I for one would definitely go back rather than go to the MRI which I have also been too where I was mis-diagnosed by a student doctor. Hence my admittence to Tameside

Of Denton, Tameside (08/02/2010 at 17:13)

It's nickname is 'DEATHSIDE' not 'shameside' and this started from the nurses that temped their and worked there as i understand it.

Aggressive Walking,, Corby (08/02/2010 at 17:58)

Savage Mandarin: As a resident of Tameside, I have never heard anyone refer to it as 'Shameside' either!! I think there should be an investigation into the journalists at the MEN.
The management at TGH may be culpable but the staff are fantastic.

Robin Thornber (08/02/2010 at 18:18)

"urgent assurances" are not enough. We've had assurances up to here. Something must be done. Now.

JERRY THE CAT, MANCHESTER (08/02/2010 at 18:54)

My uncle died in Tameside six years ago and they lost yes lost his body for four days, the distress this caused his elderly wife was terrible he was eventually found in a morgue that they said they dont use anymore but a new porter was not aware of this.

Robin Thornber (08/02/2010 at 19:30)

Andy Burnham described the deaths at Tameside as "appalling and unacceptable" in October 2006. What has he done since?

GR, Salford (08/02/2010 at 20:29)

Some years ago, after a motorcycle crash, tameside hospital x-rayed my leg and sent me home saying i had 'severe bruising and ligament damage' and said i should rest my leg. On returning home to the midlands, my local hospital x-rayed my leg again and found it to be fractured in 3 places!
If they cant get a simple leg x-ray right.........well i shudder to think!

J.Hall, Tameside (08/02/2010 at 20:30)

Whilst deeply concerned at any Hospital errors,one of the most deplorable hidden substantiated facts linked to public health in Tameside is the large dangerous volumes of air pollution being daily ingested,and its probably the top region in Greater Manchester for such dangerous pollution.
Why be concerned ?,well if the media would permit me to expose 12 years of substantiated medical facts as to what diseases and deaths are confirmed as being linked to such toxins you would also be deeply concerned,and that is not rhetoric but fact.
How and why is it being hidden,because Tameside Council,MP`s and the PCT fear the consequences
of what is really occuring,especially within 500 metres of Major Roads,Motorways and Traffic Junctions and what I know was beneficial in folding up the Waterside/Kingswater Public Inquiry,and more recent the Mottram ByPass Public Inquiry,because many thousands are forced to ingest some of highest levels of such toxins in the North West,which cause serious diseases.
Don`t believe me ! then search Google for: PM2.5 Particulates and Human Health
you are so much entitled to know whats happening,and I can only hope the MEN permits you to read this and learn for yourself the facts,otherwise the details will never come out,which is disgusting.

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