Dying Patient Left in Pain Due to HCRG Community Care Delays
A patient in the final stages of life was left in severe pain for hours due to delays in community care services provided by HCRG, a private care provider that took over NHS contracts in the south west of England.
According to Chippenham Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Gibson, the Single Point of Access (SPA) system, introduced by HCRG in April this year, has not functioned as planned. The SPA is a single phone number for all HCRG services, but constituents have reported long waits on phones, missed call-backs, and referrals that are difficult to track. Urgent cases are also not reaching the right team quickly enough, resulting in avoidable pain for patients.
Gibson shared a disturbing account of a district nurse who attended a patient with leaking wounds, who had resorted to wrapping plastic bags around their legs due to the delay in receiving proper care. In another instance, a patient approaching the end of their life was left in severe pain for hours without pain relief due to a referral not reaching the community nursing team in a timely manner.
The issue has been highlighted in a debate in parliament, where several members of staff also attended to raise concerns about staffing levels, workloads, and patient care. Bristol South Labour MP and Minister for Secondary Care, Karin Smyth, acknowledged the issues and welcomed increased oversight by the integrated care board to support improvement.
HCRG has acknowledged the difficulties with the SPA system and has taken steps to strengthen staffing and clear the referral backlog. However, the company still apologizes for instances where it fails to meet expectations.
