Peter Wright

“At the time of the death the ward was understaffed. Of the quota staff of three, one care assistant had been called to assist in another ward (and had in fact just returned) and one care assistant was with another patient who required continuous observation. This left just the qualified nurse to deal with 16 patients. She did not record all necessary observations and was doing a drugs round by herself (contrary to policy). This was recognised in the SIR carried out by es 2 no recommendation was”

“At the time of this incident there was still a 24 hour Emergency Department at the nearby Stafford Hospital and at St George's Hospital there was no doctor on site. Now the Emergency Department at County (formerly Stafford) Hospital is not open during the night and the nearest ED is at Stoke. | was told that the situation can be managed by calling paramedics. While | appreciate that nearly all the doctors at St George's are psychiatrists not medics | wonder if any consideration has been given to”