by BILL HEANEY
Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Adam Harley has urged the Scottish Government to respond after the entire Emergency Department consultant body at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital warned that a patient safety crisis exists there.
According to The Herald, the medics describe conditions in their department as “indefensible”, writing that “staff are routinely forced to move patients out of resuscitation areas earlier than would normally be considered appropriate, and to identify patients for corridor care on wards, as the department buckles under sustained pressure”.
The letter comes as the hospital, which serves West Dunbartonshire and Argyll, faces ongoing scrutiny over the quality of its construction, the safety of its water supply and the treatment outcomes of child patients, among other serious problems.
Adam Harley MSP, pictured left, said: “This letter is chilling. The Scottish Government needs to wake up to the crisis at the QEUH and intervene.
“We cannot accept this constant crisis as the status quo. That patients who need resuscitation at one of our busiest hospitals cannot take their safety for granted shows an utter failure of accountability, and proves that our NHS is in dire need of rescue.”
The consultants also warned of uncontrollable system failure, in a letter sent to Healthcare Improvement Scotland (His) in July.
They said the situation in the emergency department at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow had deteriorated since their last review, which was undertaken in 2024 and published a year later.
That report found that poor relationships between managers and consultants was likely to have had a detrimental impact on patient care.
The July letter said staff were being forced to step down patients from resuscitation areas and move people into corridors to address “sustained overcapacity”.
They added that there was no effective strategy to address the problems, and said evidence now clearly linked overcrowding in accident and emergency areas to higher death rates.
A spokesperson for Health Improvement Scotland said it continued to “take the concerns raised by staff in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Emergency Department seriously.”
The statement added: “As part of our ongoing follow-up work, we will be meeting front line staff and reviewing progress against the recommendations from our previous review during November. We have also made Scottish government colleagues aware of the ongoing concerns and pressures that have been raised with us.
“It is for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to implement the changes required and to address the issues identified. We expect the board to demonstrate progress in implementing the recommendations and responding to the concerns raised by staff.
“Given our ongoing review activity, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific correspondence or to pre-empt our further findings from our follow up work.”
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said they continued to address the issues raised in the letter.
A statement said a programme of improvement work was ongoing to deal with patient flow and numbers.
It said: “NHSGGC recognises that, despite the work to date, further support is required in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH). In recognising this, the continuation of our improvement work, including a refreshed whole system approach, is a priority .
“We recognise that some patients continue to wait too long within the emergency department, particularly when there are pressures on hospital capacity and delays in discharging patients who are clinically ready to leave, and improving this situation for both our patients and colleagues is really important to us.”
The board said the department continued to be under pressure and patient safety remained their highest priority. The Scottish government has been approached for comment.
Top of page picture: The QEUH and the Royal Children’s Hospital.
ENDS