Shropshire Star

Shropshire hospital trust fine: We have made great improvements, says chief

"Great improvements" have been made in reducing falls at a hospital trust fined over the deaths of five patients, according to its chief executive.

Published
Simon Wright

Simon Wright, chief executive of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SATH), said that a number of measures have been taken since the deaths.

He said: “I’d like to offer my sincerest condolences to the families of these patients.

“We have fully co-operated at all stages with the Health and Safety Executive and also kept our own health and safety committee up-to-date about the progress of this case.

“We recognise that falls are an issue across the NHS and we have introduced a number of measures to ensure that we reduce the number of falls, particularly those which lead to harm, to an absolute minimum.

“In the five years since these sad cases occurred we have made great improvements in reducing falls. In 2015-16 we reduced the number of falls resulting in serious harm – those which lead to fractured hips – by around a third. Our staff are working tirelessly to reduce the number of falls even further.”

The trust admitted a breach of Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

All five patients died between 2011 and 2012, but in a statement the hospital said evidence showed that the falls may have been unavoidable.

A statement from SATH said: "Expert evidence suggests that, even had all preventative measures been in place, the falls may still not have been avoidable."

Mr Wright added: “I’d like to reassure people that serious falls in our hospitals are rare and that we are doing all we can to prevent them from happening.”

Measures introduced to address the issue include employing a falls prevention nurse, introducing falls link workers, increased training for staff, development of leaflets which are given to patients, their families and carers, the introduction of falls bracelets, and ensuring that high/low beds are being used correctly.