Harrogate district hospital Archives - Page 6 of 45

Harrogate hospital spends nearly £1 million on staff cover for strikes

Harrogate District Hospital has spent £923,000 on staff cover for industrial action since April.

The hospital has been hit by numerous strikes in the last five months, with consultants and junior doctors staging walkouts in disputes over pay.

In a report due before a trust board meeting today, Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said a “significant cost” had been spent covering for striking staff members.

In total, between April 1 and August 31, the trust spent £923,000 on bank and internal staff to cover for junior doctors and consultants.

Bank staff are temporary workers who agree to work flexible shifts with a hospital trust. Some trusts keep a record of their own bank staff to call upon for shifts.

The trust said no agency workers were used to cover staffing during the strikes.

The Stray Ferret asked the trust how it intended to recoup the money spent during the industrial action.

A spokesperson for the trust said:

“The trust is in ongoing discussions with NHS England on the expectations regarding funding and managing this pressure.”

It comes as both junior doctors and consultants are set to carry out further walkouts in October.

Members of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association and British Medical Association will strike from 7am on Monday, October 2, until 7am on Thursday, October 5.

In his report, Mr Coulter said it was important to remember staff were in dispute with the government, not the hospital trust.

He added:

“We need to always remember the impact that this industrial action is having and the cost for patients who have services disrupted and delayed, the actual financial cost of cover, and the more significant opportunity cost, as management time is necessarily taken up with planning and managing these periods of strike action safely.”

Concern over number of York ambulances diverted to Harrogate hospital

Hospital managers in Harrogate have raised concern over the sustainability of taking in ambulance patients from York.

In a report due before a Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust board meeting, Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of the trust, said the issue was having an impact on both patient safety and staff at Harrogate District Hospital.

Mr Coulter said Harrogate had taken in more than 1,500 ambulances from York over the last 18 months.

He said:

“In the spirit of challenge and improvement, we have raised our concerns about the sustainability of the current situation, in particular the impact on patient safety and the impact on colleagues.”

Under a previous agreement, the hospital took in ambulances which had been diverted away from York Hospital during times when the organisation’s emergency department was under pressure.

Harrogate took in patients in an “ad-hoc” manner, meaning that ambulances would request support from hospitals which had the capacity at any given time.

The trust agreed with Yorkshire Ambulance Service and York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to amend the agreement in May 2023 and redraw the boundaries between the two hospitals and to take patients in a “planned way”.

However, in a statement to the Stray Ferret, the trust said it still receives ad-hoc requests from ambulances some four months later.

A spokesperson said:

“Following a constructive review with both Yorkshire Ambulance Service and York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in May 2023 we agreed to redraw the geographical boundaries between hospitals in Harrogate and York. Ambulances that previously would have gone to York now come to Harrogate, but in a planned, rather than ad-hoc way.

“Despite this new arrangement, there is still significant pressure across our health system and we continue to receive ad-hoc requests to divert ambulances to Harrogate.

“Providing the best possible healthcare for people who need our help is our main priority and we are in discussions with system partners to see what solutions can be introduced to alleviate pressures before we enter the winter period.”

Members of the hospital trust board will discuss the report at a meeting on Wednesday (September 27).

Harrogate hospital defends new parking charges

Harrogate District Hospital has defended its new parking charges and said the ticketless system is reducing congestion.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust introduced a new system and charges on September 6.

The old entry barriers have been replaced by automatic number plate recognition.

Visitors are now entitled to 20 minutes of free parking. It then costs £4 for up to two hours, £6.50 for up to four hours, £8.50 for up to six hours and £11 for up to 24 hours.

The new prices have attracted criticism on social media, with some complaining £4 is a lot to pay for a visit that might only last for 25 minutes.

Visitors previously received 30 minutes free parking and were then charged £2.60 for up to 90 minutes, £3.80 for up to two-and-a-half hours and £6.10 for up to four-and-a-half hours.

A trust spokesperson said:

“Increasing parking charges is never an easy decision to make, but we have to ensure that our car parks are well maintained and safe for patients, visitors and staff.

“All funds gathered from parking charges are invested back into the delivery of patient care and maintaining facilities, such as car parks across the trust.

“Over the next five years we anticipate that we will need to invest significant sums in our car parks and security, and the revenue raised through car parking charges will help us to fund this work.

The old barrier has been removed.

The spokesperson added the trust chose to keep free parking or concessionary rates for certain patients and visitors including blue badge holders, patients receiving cancer treatment, parents visiting the paediatric ward or special care baby unit, and those in receipt of benefits.

They added:

“Parking is also free for the first 20 minutes allowing for patients to be dropped off and collected without the driver needing to pay for parking. It also encourages drivers from waiting in the car park after dropping someone off, ensuring that other people who require our services can find a parking space.”

The spokesperson said car park management firm Parkingeye had not issued any parking charge notices to date because the hospital was operating a grace period.

He did not say how long this would last.

Asked how the new system was working, the spokesman said:

“The new ANPR parking system is helping eliminate congestion on Lancaster Park Road through the removal of barriers which has improved flow into the hospital grounds.

“We welcome feedback from users so that we can further improve on their experience of our new car parking system.”

The ANPR system will be expanded into the trust’s staff car parks in October, where staff will be charged a monthly fee to use the car parking facilities calculated on their vehicle’s emissions, their pay band and their contracted hours.

Harrogate hospital roof contains crumbling concrete

Harrogate District Hospital’s roof contains the type of crumbling concrete that has prompted the closure of more than 100 schools.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed its buildings contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

The material, popular between the 1960s and 1980s, has been compared to “chocolate Aero”. It has led to one hospital using 3,000 steel props to keep its roof up.

A trust spokesperson said:

“We are following HSE and NHS England guidance regarding managing the risk posed by RAAC roofing and are doing all we can to ensure that any RAAC used in our buildings does not pose any threat to the safety of our patients, staff and visitors.”

The trust is the district’s biggest employer with more than 4,000 staff employed across its sites. The main hospital was built in 1975.

The spokesperson added the trust had been undertaking surveys since last year “to identify areas of concern and monitor all RAAC roofing on our trust sites”. They added:

“We have mitigated risks that have so far been identified through remedial work, such as providing additional structural support where it is required. This work will continue to be undertaken to address any further issues that are found.

“The trust is part of an NHS England scheme to eradicate this form of roofing. We have submitted a bid to NHS England for funding so that we can develop plans to remove all RAAC from Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust sites by 2030 at the latest.”

Concerns about RAAC were flagged up at a trust board meeting in May this year.

A report by the director of strategy said RAAC roofing had been surveyed and “remedial works were underway and mitigation was in place”.

The corporate risk posed by RAAC was rated at 12 — lower than managing the risk of injury from fire and control of contractors and construction work, which were both rated at 16.

It added failure to manage the risk associated with RAAC could lead to “major injuries, fatalities, or permanent disability to employees, patients and others”.

A financial plan included in board papers said the trust had allocated £700,000 for backlog maintenance but this “excluded any national funding for RAAC”.

Harrogate hospital trust paid £4.9m in compensation claims since last year

Harrogate District Hospital has paid out £4.9 million in compensation claims in the last 12 months.

Figures obtained through a freedom of information request by law firm Legal Expert show Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust made the payments during the period July 2022 to July 2023.

The claims covered medical negligence complaints, which occur when a healthcare professional provides substandard care to a patient that falls below the standard expected of any healthcare professional.

However, the trust said some of the payouts were historical claims and were not necessarily claims resolved within the 12 month period.

In total, the trust paid £4,914,799.05 in compensation payouts. In the same time period, the hospital received 28 new letters of claims.

A spokesperson for the trust said:

“In the event that the care we provide falls below our expectations or those of our patients, we have procedures in place to investigate what has happened, so that we can learn and continuously improve patient safety.

“We treat a large number of patients across the year and the vast majority are positive about the treatment we provide – the number of claims we receive reflects an extremely small percentage of the patients we care for.

“It is important to note that the compensation figure is not only for claims which were resolved over the 12 month period in question, but also includes payments for historic claims which have been ongoing for several years.”

Harrogate hospital to increase visitor parking charges under new system

Visitor parking charges at Harrogate District Hospital are set to increase from next week.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust will introduce a new car parking system at the hospital on Wednesday.

Automatic number plate recognition will replace the current parking barriers, which the trust says will improve traffic flow. The first 20 minutes will be free then it will cost £4 for up to two hours.

It comes as patients and visitors complained of long queues on Lancaster Park Road, particularly during visiting times in the afternoon.

The new system, which will be managed by Lancashire-based Parkingeye, will identify cars on entry and exit using automatic number plate recognition.

Queues outside Harrogate District Hospital on Lancaster Park Road.

Visitors will then be able to pay when they leave by entering their car’s registration number into the parking validation machines in the front entrance of the hospital or via a dedicated app.

A spokesperson for the trust said:

“The new barrier less system will provide a better experience for our patients and visitors as it will improve the flow into and out of our hospital car park and reduce the queues on Lancaster Park Road.

“This will help improve road safety, ambulance access, reduce noise pollution that can affect local residents, and remove paper waste produced by our current ticketing system as the new system will be paperless.

“Working with Parkingeye we believe we have developed a system of fair parking for all, which is both clear and transparent and allows our trust to concentrate on our patients, whilst Parkingeye supports us by managing our car parks.”

Increased charges

Currently, visitors have 30 minutes free parking. Drivers then are charged £2.60 for up to 90 minutes, £3.80 for up to two-and-a-half hours and £6.10 for up to four-and-a-half hours.

Those staying for six-and-a-half hours or more are charged £9.10.

Under the new arrangement, parking will be free for the first twenty minutes, then will cost £4 for up to two hours, £6.50 for up to four hours, £8.50 for up to six hours and £11 for up to 24 hours.

Parking terminals will be available across the hospital and at main reception for those who are eligible for concession or free parking, for example blue badge holders, patients receiving cancer treatment and parents visiting the paediatric ward or special care baby unit.

A trust spokesperson added:

“With the introduction of the new car parking system we will also be increasing our car parking charges for visitors.

“Increasing charges is always a difficult decision, but we need to do this to ensure our car parks can continue to be well maintained. It will also allow the trust to re-invest the revenue from the car parks back into supporting the delivery of patient care.”

Harrogate musician died from poorly-managed diabetes, inquest finds

A talented Harrogate musician diagnosed with diabetes at 18 died eight years later from the disease, an inquest heard today.

Aaron Joseph Bertenshaw was 26 when he went into a diabetic coma and died at his home in Dene Park in December 2021.

At the inquest in Northallerton, coroner Catherine Cundy heard evidence that he had struggled to come to terms with his diagnosis and the condition had not been well managed.

Mr Bertenshaw, a popular musician who also worked as a barber, was admitted to the emergency department of Harrogate District Hospital 40 times over a period of five years.

Of those, 36 admissions were because of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which occurs when the blood glucose level is dangerously high.

Following his high frequency of admission to hospital, a multi-disciplinary team meeting was called in April 2021, involving the GP practice as well as the hospital’s diabetes team.

As well as his poor diabetes control, health professionals were concerned that he failed to keep appointments or respond to attempts to contact him.

The meeting considered whether Mr Bertenshaw had the mental capacity to make decisions in his own interests and it was agreed this would be assessed whenever contact was made with him in future.

However, the psychiatry team at Harrogate District Hospital never felt that Mr Bertenshaw had an underlying mental health problem that would have impacted on his ability to make decisions.

Mental health

The consultant psychiatrist, Dr Akram, told the court Mr Bertenshaw had had a number of referrals to mental health services over several years, the latest in October 2021.

He said patients in acute episodes of DKA can lack judgement and behave strangely, but this does not mean they have a mental health disorder.

Nor, he said, can someone be detained under the mental health act to force them to accept treatment, which Mr Bertenshaw’s parents had suggested could have been done for him.

The community mental health team felt that Mr Bertenshaw was struggling to accept his diagnosis, but was not deliberately misusing his insulin.

Dr Akram added:

“His intention was not to hurt himself. He just wanted to be on a different type of diabetic medication.”

The inquest also heard that the diabetes team at the hospital had discussed different options with Mr Bertenshaw to help him manage his condition.

He had requested going onto an insulin pump, which diabetes consultant Dr Sutapa Ray told the inquest had been “on the table” for him.

She said Mr Bertenshaw was told he first needed to have his sugar levels under control, which he had not been able to do.

Mr Bertenshaw’s mother, Sammy Oates, told the court he had lost a significant amount of weight and vomited after every meal, causing her to suspect he had an eating disorder.

However, Dr Ray said this was a common symptom in cases of poorly controlled diabetes, and Mr Bertenshaw had not engaged well with the diabetes team to help him manage the condition.

She said:

“It was very much the case that we would reach out to Aaron and we would do whatever he allowed us to do to engage with him to make the changes that needed to be made…

“Type one diabetes is such a burdensome condition. People adjust in different ways. Some take years and years, and some never come to terms with it.

“It’s probably one of the most difficult conditions to live with for the person and the people around them. it’s not at all uncommon [to struggle with it].”

The court heard Mr Bertenshaw had avoided emergency admission to the hospital for most of 2021.

When he was admitted in early October, he said he had been drinking and taking cocaine following the death of a friend. Having initially refused tests and treatment, he did later agree to accept help.

He was again referred to the mental health team but, despite repeated attempts to contact him, he failed to respond.

Aaron Bertenshaw was a well-known musician who gigged around Harrogate

On Thursday, December 2, 2021, Mr Bertenshaw’s mother went to his house, having not been able to contact him or seen him active on WhatsApp since Monday, November 29.

She found him on his living room floor, and paramedics attended to confirm his death.

Police officers who were also present reported signs of a “chaotic” lifestyle, including an unhealthy diet, and use of alcohol and drugs.

The post-mortem and toxicology reports found that while there was some cocaine in his system, it was not in large enough quantities to have put him at risk of death. However, the court heard use of cocaine is thought to be linked to a higher risk of DKA.

Concluding that Mr Bertenshaw had died of natural causes relating to his diabetes, Ms Cundy said she had not seen any evidence that more could have been done to intervene by the organisations caring for him.

She said she accepted that sectioning him to force him to take medication was not appropriate, adding:

“People cannot and should not be detained in psychiatric institutions simply because they make what others of us might consider to be unwise choices about how they live their lives.”

Union criticises Harrogate hospital for spending £1.2m on management consultants

One of Britain’s biggest trade unions has weighed in on Harrogate hospital’s decision to spend £1.2 million on hiring management consultants to develop a “culture of continuous improvement”.

Unite the Union, which has more than 1.2 million members in the UK and Ireland, said “paying consultants to produce a report that will gather dust on a shelf” was “not a good use of taxpayers’ money” and urged Harrogate & District NHS Foundation Trust to urgently review the decision.

The trust signed a contract with KPMG and Catalysis in March, which will run for 18 months to September 2024.

KPMG is one of the world’s largest multinational professional services companies, and Catalysis is a Wisconsin-based not-for-profit organisation that works to help healthcare bodies become more efficient.

Unite’s national officer for health, Colenzo Jarrett Thorpe, told the Stray Ferret:

“The board of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust needs an urgent review of this decision since it is not a good use of taxpayers’ money. Consultants are called in to tell the organisation what they already know or what they want to hear, without having the foresight to have the discussion with key stakeholders such as staff and trade unions and patient groups first.

“The £1.2 million would be better spent cutting agency spend, improving flexible working for all employees, and reducing the vacancy rates across the trust, rather than paying consultants to produce a report that will gather dust on a shelf and will not impact anyone.”

The trust has said its continuous improvement programme, called HDFT Impact, will ultimately involve all 5,000-plus employees, who will be encouraged to share knowledge with each other and come up with ways to improve the way the Trust delivers its services.

Mr Jarrett-Thorpe said:

“If the trust wanted to involve all employees, why doesn’t it improve and strengthen access and facilities to trade union representatives in the trust? Trade unions representatives can help retention of NHS staff, staff morale, improve safety at work, increase staff engagement, productivity and learning opportunities.”

The trust argues its continuous improvement agenda has brought about positive change over the last decade. KPMG and Catalysis are also reported to have helped other hospital trusts save hundreds of thousands of pounds in efficiencies, increase surgeries, reduce patient falls, and improve care outcomes.

In a statement issued earlier this month, the trust said:

“Continuous improvement is not a new concept at HDFT. It has been integral in helping us to develop our services and bring improvements for patients and colleagues for a long time – we have been using a lean quality improvement approach for over 10 years. We know this approach works and we’ve seen the improvements it can bring for patients and colleagues.”

Harrogate hospital to review emergency department security staff

Harrogate District Hospital is set to review security arrangements at its emergency department.

Officials at the hospital commissioned T3 Security, which is based in Newcastle, to provide security officers overnight on a trial basis in May 2022.

The move came as staff reported receiving abuse and aggressive behaviour from patients and visitors.

At the time, Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said the trust made the decision reluctantly.

However, the trust is now set to review the measures despite describing the trial as “successful”.

A spokesperson for the trust said:

“The service aim has been to provide a visual deterrent to those who may seek to be violent and aggressive, and create a more secure environment for patients and staff.

“While the security trial has proven to be successful and helped reduce instances of violence and aggression, we now need to review the temporary arrangements and formalise the service in line with our longer term plans.

“A security service will be in place within the next week to ensure the continued safety of visitors to our emergency department and the staff who work within it.

“We will not tolerate violence, or physical or verbal aggression towards our staff or patients and abuse of any kind may lead to prosecution.”

Security staff were in place at the emergency department between 7pm and 7am.

The move came amid complaints that staff had been abused by patients and visitors when they were asked to wear face masks.

Speaking at a council meeting in November last year, Mr Coulter said it was “a bit of a shame” that the trust had been forced to appoint its own security officers.

He said:

“We were always reluctant to have our own security service on the hospital site because we felt we were a health service, not anything else. I know other trusts went much more quickly into having dedicated security personnel on site.

“We have in the last six months introduced, between 7pm and 7am overnight, our own security service, which is a bit of a shame that we’ve had to do that, but it was something that made the staff feel safer, particularly in the early hours with the emergency department where Harrogate has never had a problem before, but has had an increasing problem.

“I wouldn’t say it’s anything like we get lots of these incidents, it’s a handful of incidents but they don’t need to happen very often for it to be disturbing and for people to get concerned about it.”

Harrogate hospital braced for four-day strike by junior doctors

Harrogate District Hospital is set for a further round of strikes tomorrow as junior doctors stage a four day walkout.

Members of the British Medical Association will take industrial action from 7am on Friday (August 11) until 7am on Tuesday (August 15).

The strike comes amid an ongoing dispute with government over pay.

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairs of the junior doctors committee at the BMA, said:

“It should never have got to the point where we needed to announce a fifth round of strike action.

“Our message today remains the same: act like a responsible government, come to the table to negotiate with us in good faith, and with a credible offer these strikes need not go ahead at all.”

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has warned that appointments and elective surgery may be cancelled as a result of the walkout.

In a statement, the trust said:

“We are working hard to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity, and trauma, and ensure we prioritise patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.

“Patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule. We will only reschedule appointments and procedures where necessary and any postponed appointments will be re-arranged as a priority. We appreciate this situation is frustrating for patients affected and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is important to know that people with life-threatening or severe illnesses or injuries should continue to dial 999 and come forward as normal.”

Meanwhile, consultants are also set to stage a 48-hour walkout later this month.

Members of the British Medical Association will strike from Thursday, August 24, until Saturday, August 26.

Officials at Harrogate hospital have warned the consultants walkout is also “likely to impact the trust”.

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Increased charges

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