| Stafford Hospital | |
| Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Stafford, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public NHS |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes Accident & Emergency |
| Beds | 350 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.midstaffs.nhs.uk/ |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
Stafford Hospital is an acute hospital with approximately 350 inpatient beds, opened in 1983. It is the main hospital in Stafford, England.[1]
The hospital is operated and managed by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and provides a wide range of non-specialist medical and surgical services. Stafford Hospital's Accident and Emergency unit is the only such facility in Stafford. Wards at Stafford Hospital are numbered, with the exception of the children's wards (known as the "Anson Suite"), which are named after local towns and landmarks (e.g. Shugborough Ward).
This hospital was built on the site of Coton Hill private psychiatric hospital which opened in 1854 and was demolished in 1976 with only the old chapel and gatehouse still visible.[2]. These buildings now form part of the Mid Staffordshire Postgraduate Medical Centre.
When the Stafford hospital site opened in 1983 it was named Stafford District General Hospital. The hospital was renamed Staffordshire General Hospital when Staffordshire General Infirmary, also in Stafford, closed in the early 1990s and services transferred.[3]
The hospital has been at the centre of the major scandal in which numerous newspapers estimated that because of the substandard care between 400 and 1200 more patients died between 2005 and 2008 than would be expected for the type of hospital.[4][5] The 2010 an independent investigation recommended that the regulator, Monitor, de-authorise the Foundation Trust status.[6] In June 2010, the new government announced that a full public inquiry is expected to report in March 2011.[7] The inquiry began on 8 November 2010.[8]
In October 2011 a Care Quality Commission inspection found a lack of suitably trained nursing staff on duty in the accident and emergency department. In consequence the department was closed at night for three months to remedy this, and to allow time for staff development.[9]