Disparity over version of events surrounding patient deaths at Wexham Park

Berkshire primary care trust cluster’s board papers for September note four serious incidents reported by Heatherwood and Wexham Park Foundation Trust “relating to accident and emergency”.

They say three cases in August “involved patients admitted to A&E and transferred to another location (acute medical unit/minor injuries), where clerking and observations were undertaken”. The three patients died and investigations have begun.

The papers add that discussions took place between senior managers “in connection with the incidents and particularly the recording of vital signs to ensure that patients do not deteriorate”.

A further incident was reported on 2 September when the foundation experienced “severe capacity issues”, resulting in nine ambulances queuing to offload patients.

In a statement, the foundation trust said the information in the cluster’s board report was “inaccurate” regarding the first three incidents.

Contrary to the cluster’s report, it said one of the deaths occurred in A&E itself, while the other two “were unrelated to the functioning of A&E”. It added: “The discussions that took place with regard to the recording of vital signs are totally unrelated to the three serious incidents and their investigations.”

The same board papers reveal further evidence of problems with information sharing between the two organisations.

The cluster said to produce its latest quality report it was forced to rely on a range of other sources for information on Heatherwood and Wexham Park, after the foundation “refused to release data for the first quarter of the year relating to quality indicators”.