A new report into conditions at Forth Valley Royal highlighted “serious concerns” at the hospital following an unannounced visit by inspectors.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland visited the hospital for the inspection in April this year and discovered issues with the use of extra beds on wards, as well as concerns over the level of staff vacancies.
They also raised concerns about some locked doors in wards, with hospital chiefs advised to make necessary changes.
The inspection found that additional beds have been used at the hospital since March 2022, with most four-bedded bays now accommodating five beds.
But inspectors found that some patients in these five-bedded areas were sharing call bells or had temporary call bell, some of which were broken and therefore unable to be heard by staff.
The overcrowding issues at the hospital has also led to the use of some ward treatment rooms as single rooms to accommodate patients, with the report highlighting the case of one patient who had been in a treatment room for 12 days as opposed to the maximum recommended time of 24 hours.
Inspectors stated that patients in these rooms lacked access to facilities including an ensuite bathroom, television or an outside view - and staff repeatedly accessing rooms for stock had led to some patients being disturbed and experiencing a lack of privacy.
Concerns were also raised over workforce numbers at the hospital, with some areas said to be working with “less than optimum” staffing levels.
At the time of the inspection, NHS Forth Valley admitted it was dealing with ‘significant staffing pressures’ owing to staff sickness from Covid-19 and other absences.
But some staff members told inspectors that they were “frustrated” with staffing levels and were critical of senior staff’s decision-making on the issue, which they believed presented a “safety risk for patients”.
The level of staff vacancies were recorded to be high across all staff groups at the hospital, with vacancy levels among nursing staff sitting at 10.5 per cent and 13.76 per cent for medical staff.
That has led to criticism from the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, who labelled the findings of the report as “worrying”.
Bob McGlashan, RCN Scotland Senior Officer said: “The findings from this recent inspection on the extent of nursing staff shortages and the impact this has on the provision of safe and effective care are worrying but not surprising.
“Long before the Covid-19 pandemic, the College had been raising concerns about safe staffing and the negative effects of staff shortages on patient care and the wellbeing of staff.
“In our recent survey 86 per cent of nursing staff across Scotland said that the staffing levels on their last shift were not sufficient to meet the needs of patients.
“Nearly 70 per cent said that patient care was compromised as a result and 63 per cent stated they felt exhausted and negative during their last shift.
“The Scottish Government and NHS Boards must ensure that nursing is an attractive and rewarding career through fair pay, better terms and conditions and a supportive and positive working environment, if Scotland is to recruit and retain the nursing workforce we need.”
Cathie Cowan, Chief Executive, NHS Forth Valley, said: “This inspection took place at the beginning of April 2022 during a period of unprecedented demand combined with high levels of staff absences due to Covid-19.
“Like hospitals across the country, we had to open extra beds to create additional capacity while managing significant staff shortages. We recognise that the use of contingency areas is not ideal however local staff across the hospital continued to deliver high standards of clinical care and treatment in very challenging circumstances.
“The inspectors also highlighted the positive and caring interactions they saw between staff and patients, good team working and efforts to ensure additional staff were distributed to areas with the greatest needs.
“The majority of the report recommendations have already been addressed, in many cases on the same day of the visit, and we will ensure all are fully implemented.”
