A HEALTH chief asked if there was something ‘fundamentally wrong’ at Warrington Hospital after a series of issues were revealed during a board meeting.

A quality report for Warrington CCG, the organisation which runs health in the town, highlighted a number of concerns.

These included that a patient had died after a fall in the hospital, serious concerns had been raised about children’s diabetic services, a review into maternity services had been delayed and a whistleblower had raised concerns about ‘poor staffing levels’.

Gareth Hall, governance lead, said: “There has been indications from different sources about issues with the hospital so do we tackle each one individually or is there an issue here?

“Nobody has been harmed (referring to diabetes services) but collectively is there fundamentally something not quite right as things keep popping up.

“Are the hospital just going to stick plasters over the bits we are identifying?”

A review of paediatric diabetes services at the Lovely Lane hospital said it was ‘under-resourced’ with one consultant managing a caseload of 140 patients.

But John Wharton, chief nurse and quality lead, said there had been no major issues flagged up or complaints and the board would wait for a report to see what action was needed.

He added: “The CQC came in to review the hospital and didn’t identify any major areas of concern however the report will give us a bigger picture and I hope to be able to come back to the next meeting with assurances.

“The right people have been going in and doing these investigations and then with evidence we can work with the provider if there are any areas of concern.”

The meeting heard it was thought the whistleblower was a disgruntled member of a staff but formal assurances would be made following a report.

A maternity review had been delayed due to a family bereavement involving relevant personnel needed to ‘make the investigation meaningful’.

The inquiry, after five stillbirths at the hospital, is not now due to start until August/September 2014.

Mr Wharton added ‘quite a large investigation’ was taking place after a patient died following a fall from a trolley in the hospital’s A&E department.

The patient, who was transferred to The Walton Unit, underwent an emergency CT scan at the hospital before being transferred to the neurological unit.

The next Warrington CCG meeting takes place on September 10 from 1.30pm at Orford Neighbourhood Hub.