3. Mr K complains in December 2022, staff at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals moved his mother from a side room to a bed on a shared ward.
4. Mr K says because of this transfer his mother caught COVID-19 which led to her death.
5. As an outcome to his complaint he would like service improvements to stop the same thing happening again.
6. Mrs K was admitted to hospital in early November 2022 with a history of confusion, urinarytract infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties.
7. On 30 November a patient on the main ward tested positive for COVID-19. Staff moved Mrs K from her side room on 2 December so they could isolate the COVID-19 patient there. Mrs K had a test for COVID-19 on the same day which was negative. Another test on 6 December came back positive.
8. Staff continued caring for Ms K in hospital but her condition got worse. She sadly died at the end of December. Her COVID-19 infection was listed as a cause of death.
12. Before we decide if we should conduct a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation has got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this and found no indication something has gone wrong.
13. Mr K believes his mother’s COPD meant she was at greater risk of the worst effects of COVID-19. He says this meant she should have continued to isolate in the side room.
14. The Trust investigated what happened and explained when it admitted Mrs K there was a side room free so it placed her there. However, at the time there was no clinical reason for any of the patients on the ward to be isolated. This meant no-one had an infection or illness that could spread easily. That included Mrs K.
15. When a patient on the ward tested for positive for COVID-19 on 30 November it had to isolate them to keep staff and other patients safe. It therefore transferred Mrs K out of the side room and isolated the patient with COVID-19 there instead. The Trust deep cleaned the ward before putting Mrs K there.
16. We have not requested medical records of the other patients on the ward at the time of events. This is because it would not be proportionate to do so and we do not know who they were.
17. Instead, we have accepted the information in the Trust’s complaint response letter as accurate. We have verified the information using a record of the Trust’s meeting to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. These details accurately reflect the information contained in the complaint response.
18. Public Health England’s guidance COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Guidance sets out how Trusts should manage patients with COVID-19. It says wherever possible, hospitals should isolate patients with possible or confirmed COVID-19 in single rooms.
19. It adds if a patient does not have COVID-19 then the decision to isolate them should be made locally based on their individual needs and the resources available.
20. The Trust’s guidance COVID Testing in periods of Low Prevalence also applied at the time. It says the Trust would regularly test patients who were clinically vulnerable. It listed several illnesses and conditions of when a patient was most at risk to COVID19. COPD was not listed. There is no guidance to say patients with COPD need isolating.
21. We spoke to our adviser about the Trust’s decision to remove Mrs K from the side room.
22. They explained Mrs K’s medical records show there was no clinical reason to isolate her. The Trust followed the relevant guidance when it removed her from the side room so it could keep other patients separate from someone with COVID-19.
23. We know COVID-19 was a particularly infectious disease. It was easy to get the illness, even when taking measures to stop it spreading.
24. The Trust followed all the relevant procedures by isolating the other patient. It also tried to minimise the risk of the disease spreading by deep cleaning the ward. Unfortunately, this did not prevent Ms H getting COVID-19.
25. We understand Mr K was looking forward to bringing his mother home and this never happened. We recognise the heartache this has caused him and the impact her death has had.
1. We have carefully considered Mr K’s complaint about Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust (the Trust). We have seen no indication anything went seriously wrong when it moved his mother (Mrs K) out of her side room and placed her on the general ward.
2. We understand the impact this complaint has had on Mr K and how devastating it has been to lose his mother. We hope our decision can bring some closure to the sad events he has told us about.