NURSES at Scotland’s new super-hospital have received special training to resuscitate patients who attempt to hang themselves amid fears that the facility’s single rooms make it easier for people to take their own lives.
One nurse, who did not want to be named, said she had been “horrified” by the experience and raised concerns that staff did not have enough time to keep checking on patients who were out of sight and alone in single-bed rooms at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow (QEUH).
She added: “Supplies are kept in a centre storeroom a long way from the wards and patients’ rooms.
“Nurses are spending a significant amount of time just walking long distances around the hospital to get drugs or equipment, and there is very little time left to keep checking on isolated patients.
“Obviously most patients wouldn’t be a suicide risk, but it is very worrying that we are being trained to resuscitate patients in this way to patch up what are seen as some of the hospital’s design flaws for more vulnerable patients.”
It comes after the death of a patient with mental health problems in 2015, who was found hanged in one of the £842 million facility’s private rooms.
The tragedy sparked an investigation by the health board into the ability of staff to monitor vulnerable patients in single rooms and criticism that the hospital had not been “suicide-proofed”.
In particular, concerns were raised about design details in the rooms which went against the recommendation of its own ruling board. Papers submitted to an NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde board meeting following the patient’s death said it was “regrettable the specification for the area in question had not followed that of a psychiatric hospital”.
About 50 patients have taken their own lives in Scottish hospitals over the past four years.
The vast majority of patients treated at the QEUH are accommodated in single rooms with en suite bathrooms.
The design, hailed as a key feature when it opened, is said to reduce the spread of hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA, improve patient dignity and satisfaction, and reduce medical errors.
However, critics have insisted hand-washing is more effective at controlling the spread of MRSA and insist a mix of single and four-bed rooms would prevent patients feeling “isolated”.
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said there was now a legal requirement for single patient rooms in hospitals.
He said: “We are continually trying to mitigate risks to our patients and those who are deemed to be a risk to themselves or others are given a full risk assessment on admission.
“Appropriate supervision is put in place to ensure their stay in hospital is as safe as possible.
“To support this further, staff are being given specialist training in dealing with patients at risk of self harm, to assist them in dealing with any serious incidents which may occur.
“This training is being rolled out throughout the Queen Elizabeth.”
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