The chief executive of a scandal-hit hospital has resigned amid accusations she presided over a "prevailing culture of failure".
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| Patients are left in corridors for hours as A&E is full |
Following revelations about poor patient care, Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester announced that Christine Green had tendered her resignation.
It came after two reviews by the hospital found patients were having to wait up to four days to see a consultant, or were left in corridors for hours when A&E was full.
It came after two reviews by the hospital found patients were having to wait up to four days to see a consultant, or were left in corridors for hours when A&E was full.
Long delays before being assessed were found to be putting patients at risk, with some admitted on a Friday and not being checked by a consultant until the following Tuesday, according to the reports by NHS review teams seen by The Guardian.
It is understood Ms Green’s decision to resign was agreed with the Trust's board last week but was not announced until now - the day that three local MPs renewed their calls for her to step down.
Tariq Mahmood, the hospital’s medical director, is also understood to have stepped down, but his resignation was agreed in April.
Jonathan Reynolds, Andrew Gwynne and David Heyes, the three MPs whose constituents use Tameside as their main local hospital, issued a joint statement today urging Ms Green to go.
The standard of care delivered at the trust, and in particular the poor performance of A&E and the impact that "poor management" was having on the delivery of health services at the hospital, was their key concern.
But the hospital said it commissioned the reviews so it could "understand" more about its delivery and that an action plan was already in place to address the concerns.
The MPs referred to two reviews of the hospital which detail operational deficiencies in how it delivers health services.
The findings by Prof Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS medical director, into standards of treatment at 14 hospitals are also due to be published this month and are expected to be highly critical.
In their letter to the Keogh review, the MPs said: "We feel that the only way the prevailing culture of failure at the hospital can be changed is for the trust to explore reviewing its senior management team.
"We do accept that the chair has only been in post for less than two years and we have confidence that he would be able to help carry forward these changes and provide a level of continuity, however we have no confidence that the chief executive would be able to lead this change.
"Only by taking this specific action do we believe that both the staff and the wider public will have their confidence restored in the hospital."
In a joint statement issued today, the MPs added: "Although the majority of care delivered by the hospital's frontline staff is praised by patients, we have had serious concerns about aspects of care and governance at the hospital for some time now, which the hospital trust are well aware of.”
The MPs' intervention comes as the Care Quality Commission, which regulates NHS care, reportedly admitted its inspectors had found problems at Tameside's A&E unit, which was heavily criticised and depicted as an overcrowded scene of chaos in the two reports.
A CQC spokesman told the Guardian it had instigated an inspection after Jackie Hayden, the postgraduate dean for Greater Manchester, passed on concerns first raised privately with her by a group of junior doctors working in several departments at Tameside.
A spokesman for Tameside Hospital said: "The trust takes the views and concerns of its staff very seriously, including those who work day in, day out under enormous pressure on the front line.
“That's why we specifically commissioned the reviews concerned, precisely so we could understand more about our delivery on the front line and how its quality can be maximised alongside support for our staff.
"As soon as the reports were received, we sought to substantiate any comments or observations contained in them, although some comments by individuals were not able to be substantiated.”
The standard of care delivered at the trust, and in particular the poor performance of A&E and the impact that "poor management" was having on the delivery of health services at the hospital, was their key concern.
But the hospital said it commissioned the reviews so it could "understand" more about its delivery and that an action plan was already in place to address the concerns.
The MPs referred to two reviews of the hospital which detail operational deficiencies in how it delivers health services.
The findings by Prof Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS medical director, into standards of treatment at 14 hospitals are also due to be published this month and are expected to be highly critical.
In their letter to the Keogh review, the MPs said: "We feel that the only way the prevailing culture of failure at the hospital can be changed is for the trust to explore reviewing its senior management team.
"We do accept that the chair has only been in post for less than two years and we have confidence that he would be able to help carry forward these changes and provide a level of continuity, however we have no confidence that the chief executive would be able to lead this change.
"Only by taking this specific action do we believe that both the staff and the wider public will have their confidence restored in the hospital."
In a joint statement issued today, the MPs added: "Although the majority of care delivered by the hospital's frontline staff is praised by patients, we have had serious concerns about aspects of care and governance at the hospital for some time now, which the hospital trust are well aware of.”
The MPs' intervention comes as the Care Quality Commission, which regulates NHS care, reportedly admitted its inspectors had found problems at Tameside's A&E unit, which was heavily criticised and depicted as an overcrowded scene of chaos in the two reports.
A CQC spokesman told the Guardian it had instigated an inspection after Jackie Hayden, the postgraduate dean for Greater Manchester, passed on concerns first raised privately with her by a group of junior doctors working in several departments at Tameside.
A spokesman for Tameside Hospital said: "The trust takes the views and concerns of its staff very seriously, including those who work day in, day out under enormous pressure on the front line.
“That's why we specifically commissioned the reviews concerned, precisely so we could understand more about our delivery on the front line and how its quality can be maximised alongside support for our staff.
"As soon as the reports were received, we sought to substantiate any comments or observations contained in them, although some comments by individuals were not able to be substantiated.”
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