A DAD whose daughter died at a Worcester hospital has criticised management after it was revealed that there were 136 'serious incidents' in which patients could have been harmed – including 24 deaths – in less than a year.

Doug Shipsey, father of Bethany Shipsey, submitted a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to discover how many serious incidents took place at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

There were 136 incidents between December 1 last year and September 30, 2017, a window which also covered the period when his daughter was a patient at the hospital.

A 'serious incident' is one which can cause harm to a patient, for example a fall, contracting an infection such as MRSA or an error in administering medication.

It was confirmed that of these 136 incidents, 91 caused serious and moderate harm, 24 resulted in death and the remaining 21 were minor or resulted in no harm.

However, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust's chief medical officer said that while some of these incidents may relate to the care of patients who subsequently died, this does not necessarily mean that their death was caused by the issue that was reported.

The trust has been in special measures since 2015 and is rated 'inadequate' by the health and social care regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Inspectors visited the trust again in November but a report on their findings is not expected until the spring.

Mr Shipsey of Warndon Villages, Worcester, also requested information about the average numbers of serious incidents at a hospital the size of Worcestershire Royal Hospital but was told 'we currently do not benchmark against other trusts with a similar profile'.

However, over 13,000 serious incidents were reported and investigated in NHS acute trusts in 2014 according to CQC figures.

As previously reported, Mr Shipsey said there were difficulties in getting his daughter Bethany to the resuscitation room because there were so many trolleys in the way, after she was taken to hospital by ambulance on February 15 this year.

Bethany died at the hospital after overdosing on diet pill 2,4 Dinitrophenol, known as DNP, which she bought over the internet from the Ukraine.

Her family said she was moved three times in the 20 minutes before she suffered a cardiac arrest.

Mr Shipsey, 52, said: "The Worcester hospital already has an unacceptably high mortality rate.

"The CQC’s reports and warnings have cited that patients' safety is at risk, particularly in the A&E department. Another winter is almost upon so what has been done by the trust to remedy the situation in time for this winter?

"The new management has already had eight months to make changes, but still there is no difference. So, when will this third world treatment of our most vulnerable citizens end?"

Dr Suneil Kapadia, chief medical officer of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We encourage all staff to report any concerns they may have about issues affecting the quality of care we provide for our patients. We investigate those concerns thoroughly, and share the lessons learned widely across our trust.

“Sometimes, our investigations reveal issues that are of such concern that we report them as serious incidents.

"While some of these incidents may relate to the care of patients who subsequently die, this does not necessarily mean that their death is directly related to, or caused by, the issue that has been reported.

“We strive to review all cases where patients die while in our hospital, whether or not there have been any concerns raised about their care.

"This is one of a package of measures we have in place to help us continuously improve the quality and safety of the care we provide for our patients.”

The trust has overhauled A&E at Worcester with a £920,000 investment to better improve patient flow.

NHS bosses say they were committed to ending 'routine' care on trolleys and in corridors for emergency patients.

Beds were opened in the Aconbury unit on the site to ease pressure on A&E and an ambulatory care centre opened on November 20, which has helped take some of the strain.