Norfolk hospital in patient safety alert

Sarah HallBosses at a Norfolk hospital said there were 'robust plans' in place to address patient safety, after a new report claimed it failed to comply with key issues.Sarah Hall

Bosses at a Norfolk hospital said there were 'robust plans' in place to address patient safety, after a new report claimed it failed to comply with key issues.

The James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston was named as having 11 outstanding patient safety alerts which means safety standards were not complied with or met within a certain deadline.

The study, from Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA), found 1,242 cases across UK trusts where individual patient safety alerts had not been complied with, including alerts on medicine, procedures such as using equipment in a way that minimises pain, surgery and the risk of overdoses.

A spokesman for the JPUH said: 'We currently have seven patient safety alerts that are being brought to a conclusion - two of which will be completed this week.

'Of the remaining five, all have a robust action plan in place to fully address issues raised and all relevant staff are involved in this process.'

Dr Stuart Gray, whose father David Gray was killed by German doctor Daniel Ubani, said he found it 'deeply offensive'' trusts were failing to take action.

Dr Ubani gave the pensioner, from Manea in Cambridgeshire, 10 times the normal dose of diamorphine, and later admitted being confused about how the drug should be used.

A report last month found the out-of-hours firm, Take Care Now, which employed Dr Ubani had failed to act on an alert from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) on the risks associated with higher doses of diamorphine.

The company made no changes to the way diamorphine was used and stored until after Mr Gray's death.

Dr Gray said: 'It is deeply disturbing to be informed that so many NHS bodies still completely disregard the NPSA safety alerts.'

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital was not named in the report.