Frail patients told to 'soil themselves'

Hospital hit by lack of staff and delays

- Hanna Geissler Health Editor

A HOSPITAL was so shorthanded frail patients were told to soil themselves in bed, says a report.

Staff said they did not feel safe raising concerns while some nurses “lived in fear of punishment from senior leaders”.

Inspectors described how a patient had to wait 55 hours on a chair in a corridor at Medway NHS Trust in Kent.

Degrading

Others described waiting two days or more for a bed.

The Care Quality Commission report said: “Patients, relatives and staff contacted us prior to the assessment process to tell us staff did not always protect patients from degrading experiences.