Inspectors have issued a safety warning to one of the largest NHS trusts in north west England following an unannounced visit to one of its accident and emergency department where they were told staffing was at ‘crisis levels’.

Even though the A&E department of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary was relatively quiet on the night of the visit by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors they found that staffing levels did not always meet the needs of people using the department when there were high demands.

One patient told the inspectors that they had also been there the previous night, when it had been “really busy” and that the patients “had been lined up down the corridor and people were waiting”.

via OnMedica.