Birmingham hospitals criticised over child care

Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham and Good Hope Hospital in nearby Sutton Coldfield have been blasted for providing inadequate paediatric care.

The two hospitals, both run by Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, were the subject of an investigation following the unexpected deaths of three children in recent years.

Emergency care at both locations was criticised by the investigators' report, with the paediatric assessment units being described as "not fit for purpose".

Furthermore, Good Hope was accused of inadequate staffing at its A&E children's area, while Heartland's neonatal unit was said to suffer from severe overcrowding - posing a risk to infants in the event of a flu outbreak.

A major redesign of how children are cared for and the state of building at the hospitals' paediatric assessment units was called for by the report.

Dr Mark Goldman, chief executive at the Heart of England trust, apologised for its poor performance.

"We are extremely sorry elements of our paediatric service did not meet the highest of standards," he said.

"The trust is committed to finding and eradicating any outstanding problems."

Heart of England is also responsible for Solihull Hospital, Birmingham Chest Clinic and a number of smaller satellite units.

A large scale study has shown that you are more likely to die if you are taken into hospital at the weekend. Researchers from University College London, commissioned by the Department of Health, looked at...

A new survey has found that Brits are twice as likely to gamble with their health than with their money or their career. AXA Wealth carried out a survey of 2008 adults, and found that nearly a fifth (18%) of...

A new report has revealed that the NHS spends £60,000 a day on translation and interpretation, totalling over £23m last year. Think tank 2020Health collected data from 247 NHS trusts using Freedom of...

Scientists cannot explain how 75 per cent of people catch the superbug C. difficile, after a study showed that only a quarter of infections in one hospital system were traced to contact with a suffering...

The NHS faces a £15.7bn bill as the number of clinical negligence claims made against it rise by 9 per cent in the last year. The £15.7bn cost is equivalent to one seventh of the health service’s annual...