Yeovil Hospital children's services rated 'inadequate'
Children being treated at Yeovil District Hospital are not being kept safe, according to government inspectors.
The Care Quality Commission has published a report following an inspection in January, and rated children and young people's services as "inadequate".
The inspection led to a warning notice being issued and the temporary closure of the special care baby unit (SCBU) and birthing services at the hospital in May, due to a shortage of paediatric doctors.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said it was "working hard to address the safety, quality and fragility of the paediatric service" at a "very challenging time".
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Inspectors said they found "low morale" among medical staff who said they felt "exhausted" and "overwhelmed" with their workloads.
The report also said there was a "recurring theme that parents did not feel listened to and staff did not communicate with them".
A major issue was that the paediatrics service did not have enough doctors, inspectors said.
One mum, who lives in Yeovil but wanted to stay anonymous, said her one-year-old son spent three nights on the hospital's children's ward earlier this month, being treated for suspected sepsis.
She said she had a "really positive experience" on the ward but there were delays in a doctor reviewing her son in the last 48 hours of his stay.
She said she was told this was due to staff shortages and the doctor needing to remain in the emergency department.
Inspectors found there was just one registrar doctor covering all three paediatric areas after 5pm.
These were the children's ward, the emergency department (ED) and the maternity ward and SCBU which were "a significant distance away from each other", inspectors said.
The children's ward and ED are seven floors apart and inspectors found the lifts were very slow.
Maternity and SCBU were in a separate building from the other services.
This "geographical spread and lack of medical staff" led to a "risk of delays to the triage and treatment of children" according to the CQC report.
The CQC report also said not every child who was admitted to the children's ward with an acute medical problem was seen by one of the most senior doctors, a consultant paediatrician, within 14 hours of admission, as national standards stipulate.
Staff told inspectors there was often just one consultant-led handover in 24 hours - guidelines say at least two should take place.
This meant some children staying in hospital longer than needed, as they couldn't be discharged through the handover process.
Attempts by the hospital to recruit the two more consultants, which were needed, had been unsuccessful.
Inspectors did find there were enough paediatric nurses.
There were some positive findings including around the children's mental health service, infection control and cleanliness.
In total Yeovil Hospital's children's services were in breach of six legal regulations including staffing, mandatory training and good governance.
Inspectors also visited the children's services at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, run by the same NHS trust, which were rated good.
Lucy Bateman, from Chard, said she no longer chooses to use Yeovil Hospital since her daughter experienced poor care after being taken in "severely dehydrated" by ambulance a few years ago.
She said they were left in a "very, very overcrowded waiting room" with just a syringe and some water for hours, before being told doctors were "too busy with an emergency" to see her daughter and they "might as well just go home".
Ms Bateman said she took her daughter to Musgrove Park hospital the next day and her experience was "like night and day".
"I was reassured that I wasn't overreacting, Molly was taken care of and everything worked out very well, but now I would always go straight to Musgrove," she said.
Peter Lewis, chief executive of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This is a very challenging time, but we are confident that we can build a stronger, more sustainable service for babies, children and young people in Somerset."
Mr Lewis said the trust was trying to recruit more senior paediatricians and looking at what it could learn from other hospitals.
The trust has promised a formal review of the temporary closures, which began in May, after three and six months.
Catherine Campbell, CQC deputy director for operations in the south, said: "Trust leaders understand what must change. The warning notice we've issued will help focus attention on the areas needing urgent and sustained improvement.
"We'll continue to monitor these services closely to ensure progress and to keep children and young people safe."
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