An NHS dialysis unit at Scarborough Hospital has been placed into special measures after inspectors uncovered severe safety, staffing, and infection control failings.
A dialysis unit based at Scarborough Hospital has been placed into special measures after inspectors found patients receiving lifesaving treatment were being put at risk by failures in safety, staffing, infection control, and clinical oversight.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Scarborough NHS Dialysis Unit as inadequate following an inspection earlier this year.
The service, run by Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services Ltd, provides haemodialysis treatment for people with end-stage kidney disease and operates from within the grounds of Scarborough Hospital.
Inspectors rated the service inadequate for safety, effectiveness and leadership, while caring and responsiveness were rated as requiring improvement.
The service has now been placed into special measures and will remain under close scrutiny from the regulator.
The CQC said some patients reported repeatedly raising concerns about delays to treatment and being disconnected from dialysis machines, but no effective action had been taken.
Charlotte Rudge, the CQC’s deputy director of operations in the North East, said:
“When we inspected Scarborough NHS Dialysis Unit, it was concerning to see a service that wasn’t providing safe or appropriate care to people needing lifesaving dialysis treatment.
“We saw people experiencing delays getting their treatment, and others sometimes experienced delays being disconnected from dialysis machines.
“People said this was a regular occurrence which they’d escalated to managers several times, but no action had been taken to prevent this from happening again.”
The regulator said it took enforcement action during the inspection after identifying concerns requiring immediate improvement.
Inspectors found leaders had failed to ensure lessons were learned from incidents, while staffing levels, training records and competency assessments could not always be verified.
Among the concerns identified were examples of patients deteriorating and requiring emergency hospital treatment where incidents were not formally reported or investigated.
Inspectors also found examples of incorrect patient information being provided to patients, delays in recognising deteriorating health conditions and failures to consistently escalate concerns to specialist medical teams.
The report highlighted infection prevention and control failings, including blood contamination in clinical areas, poor hand hygiene practices, damaged flooring in patient toilet areas and shortcomings in cleaning procedures.
Inspectors also found medicines were not always managed safely. Anticoagulant drugs were left unattended at nursing stations, and medication storage temperatures were not being properly monitored, according to the CQC.
The watchdog further criticised governance arrangements, saying systems designed to identify and manage risk were not operating effectively and that leaders failed to maintain adequate oversight of incidents, audits, staffing, patient records and medicines management.
Patients were broadly positive about frontline staff, however.
Most patients told inspectors nurses and support staff were kind, friendly and helpful. One patient said:
“The nursing team work really hard”
, while another commented:
“All the staff here are wonderful, can’t fault them.”
Fresenius Medical Care said it was “committed to excellent clinical care and the safety and wellbeing of all our patients”.
A company spokesperson said:
“We have carefully reviewed the report and are taking the necessary actions to reassure the CQC and our patients that our care standards are high and will remain so.
“We look forward to a repeat inspection and an updated assessment in due course.”
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