Hospital reported for hypothermia

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Children developed hypothermia at a hospital in the Black Country two years running, a senior doctor has said.

Dr David Drew said eight children's temperatures fell below 36C (96.8F) when the heating failed at Walsall Manor Hospital on 18 December 2009.

Two of them became hypothermic Dr Drew said, but the trust said only one child became hypothermic who had prior issues with his body temperature.

In 2008, 12 children's temperatures also fell notably, Dr Drew said.

The trust said that no child's care had been compromised on any of its wards.

'Patient risk'

It said it had not received any complaints from patients or families either.

Consultant paediatrician Dr Drew has worked at the hospital for 20 years and said: "I can't stand by when patients and parents are being subjected to this kind of risk and this kind of discomfort by a trust that has got other considerations than patient safety."

A well baby will become ill at 34 C (93.2F) and an ill baby will become worse Dr David Drew

The eight children ranged in age between two weeks and six years and had body temperatures of between 34 (93.2F) and 36C (96.8F) on 18 December.

Dr Drew reported the hospital to Pauline Pilkington, director of children's services at Walsall Council, claiming there were child protection issues at the hospital.

He said: "A well baby will become ill at 34 C (93.2F) and an ill baby will become worse."

'Wholly inappropriate'

He said a critically ill baby's chance of survival could be compromised if its body temperature was allowed to drop that low.

In the summer of 2008 the paediatrics in-patient ward was temporarily moved to the Salisbury Ward in the East Wing, ahead of the opening of a new private finance hospital which is due to open in May.

Dr Drew said the Salisbury Ward was "wholly inappropriate and not fit for purpose".

The trust acknowledged the hospital's East Wing was a particularly old building that required regular maintenance and was due for replacement.

It said alongside the private finance development it had invested £3m in 2002 and £150,000 in 2008 to improve the East Wing accommodation including the Salisbury Ward.

The trust said it brought in extra heaters but no-one turned them on

In November and December 2008, 12 children's body temperatures dropped significantly on Salisbury Ward.

The trust's medical director, Mike Browne, bought auxiliary electric heaters and thermometers to correct the situation but there were more heating problems in January.

When the electric heaters were used to correct the room temperature, the babies with respiratory diseases suffered sticky secretions caused by the dry, unhumidified air, Dr Drew said.

He said cuts in nursing staff were also a contributory factor to poor patient care.

Human error

In September Dr Drew warned the trust that if the same problems occurred he would 'blow the whistle' on the state of the paediatric ward.

A month after the latest heating failure on 18 December, he said the medical director Mike Brown had still not interviewed him about what had happened.

In a memo to the trust's chief executive, Mr Browne said that no-one had switched on the auxiliary heaters.

Despite the lack of heat he said only one child, whose temperature was already erratic before the ward's heating failed, was hypothermic.

A statement from Walsall Manor Hospital said: "We take the safety of patients very seriously.

"We have undertaken the appropriate risk assessments and introduced effective measures to ensure that patient safety is not compromised.

"Mr Browne has never attempted to trivialise the situation and has himself been very closely involved with the ward staff and patients throughout."

It said the concerns Dr Drew raised in September 2009 had been thoroughly investigated and had been resolved to the satisfaction of the hospital trust's board.

Walsall social services department has declined to comment.