KOHIN
Keep Our Hospital in Norwich
Ducting
Unconnected Ducting
Heard an interesting N&N story that some nurses found the extractor ducting above the isolation ward had never been connected - and Stamp knew about it. Result - the whistleblowers had to leave and Stamp moved sideways to Addenbrooks... (Stamp? try www.addenbrookes.org.uk/trust/objectives/2003_2004/intro.htm)
Any truth in it? All I can find about it is: http://www.serco.com/media/industrynews/ItemPage.asp?ItemID=2551646
The 'official report' seems a bit of a whitewash - hiding behind claims that no patient was put at risk, rather than addressing the issue that the work was not properly completed...
Interim report: http://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/viewTrustDoc.asp?ID=84 (64Kb)
Final report: http://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/viewTrustDoc.asp?ID=91 (2.3Mb)
The dates are the all important facts:
1) BBC News stated on Friday, 27 September, 2002:
Norfolk hospital gets new chief
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust has appointed a new chief executive. Stephen Day, currently chief executive of Broadland NHS Primary Care Trust, has been appointed to the post, it was announced on Friday. Mr Day, 48, will take up his new post in January 2003. He succeeds Malcolm Stamp, who is taking up the chief executive post at Addenbrooke's NHS Trust, Cambridge. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2285230.stm)
2) The report states (http://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/viewTrustDoc.asp?ID=91)
5.7 Correspondence exists, pre-dating the move to the new hospital, which describes
concerns in relation to these rooms. Even when the ward staff and the infection
control team formally drew attention to the problem in April 2003 by completing a
risk assessment and a decision was taken to commit resources to resolving the
problem, the Trust took too long to deal with the matter. We consider that this
occurred because the Trust’s clinical governance procedures were not as strong as
they should have been.
5.11 The engineers have confirmed that they reported finding unconnected flexible
ducting above a single room on Kilverstone ward, but we are advised that this
presented no risk to patients, staff or visitors (HO HO HO!!!) - my emphasis.
We have received confirmation that following the discovery of the unconnected
ducting a check of the system was conducted and no further trunking problems were found.
C.7 There is correspondence from the Trust in February 2002 to Octagon, the
responsible body, which requested that the information and training
necessary to operate the isolation rooms be provided to the Trust. We have
also received a copy of a report produced by Octagon Healthcare and Serco
services in July 2003 which states that it become (sic) apparent that the
design, commissioning and operation of all negative and positive pressure
rooms was unclear within the whole body of the Norfolk & Norwich University
Hospital.
C.8 Dr Brambleby has asserted in some of his correspondence that a nurse had
reported to him that she had found unconnected ducting whilst lifting the
ceiling tiles in a room in a ward area. This assertion has received much
publicity in the media (where???) and has been the subject of extensive enquires by the
panel. At interview the nurse in question, who wishes to remain anonymous,
has clarified that she was shown some unconnected ducting by an engineer.
3) But the inquiry did not start until 21st April 2004
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