Barts Health NHS Trust
NHS / Health Body
Action Taken
Barts Health NHS Trust now swabs all dialysis patients weekly, isolates COVID-positive patients on a single site, and has access to portable dialysis machines. They have also started vaccinating dialysis patients during their sessions and are actively planning to increase dialysis capacity. (AI summary)
View full response
Dear Ms Hassell,
RE: Regulation 28 Prevention of Future Deaths Report
I write in response to your Regulation 28: Report to Prevent Future Deaths, dated 11th December 2020. Your concern was related to the environment Ms Shyama Vadwatee Rampadaruth waited in on the 13th April 2020.
At the inquest you raised the concern that Ms Rampadaruth waited 6 hours on a hard chair in the hospital waiting area rather than being allowed to go home while she waited for an evening dialysis session.
This event took place during the first peak of Covid 19 in April 2020 and the steps taken that day were an emergency measure. The team recognise that the lady’s experience of waiting for her dialysis session would have been better in her own home rather than in the hospitals waiting area.
I would like to assure you that since that day a significant number of actions have taken place to improve the experience of patients attending dialysis. All dialysis patients are now swabbed weekly so Covid cases are picked up on asymptomatic patients. This has allowed us to isolate and cohort Covid positive patients in a more planned fashion than Ms Rampadaruth experienced during the first wave and we have, so far, been able to keep all our covid positive dialysis on a single site. Additionally the renal team now have access to portable dialysis machines that were not available during the first surge in March and April 2020. This has given the team more flexibility in arranging urgent isolated dialysis when needed.
Trust Executive Office Ground Floor Pathology and Pharmacy Building The Royal London Hospital 80 Newark Street London E1 2ES Telephone:
Chief Medical Officer
Private & Confidential Ms Mary Hassell Senior Coroner Inner North London St Pancras Coroner’s Court Camley Street London N1C 4PP
The dialysis service runs at over 99% capacity and so a lack of reserve does make managing dialysis safely through the pandemic extremely challenging. They are therefore actively planning to increase capacity and are seeking the resources needed to enable this.
Finally the renal team recognise that vaccinating their vulnerable cohort of patients is likely to be the best strategy to prevent future deaths among their vulnerable cohort of patients. They have been strongly advocating for this and I am pleased to say we have started vaccinating the dialysis patients when they attend for their sessions.
Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I trust that you are assured that I have taken them seriously. I am very happy to discuss or clarify any of the above points.
RE: Regulation 28 Prevention of Future Deaths Report
I write in response to your Regulation 28: Report to Prevent Future Deaths, dated 11th December 2020. Your concern was related to the environment Ms Shyama Vadwatee Rampadaruth waited in on the 13th April 2020.
At the inquest you raised the concern that Ms Rampadaruth waited 6 hours on a hard chair in the hospital waiting area rather than being allowed to go home while she waited for an evening dialysis session.
This event took place during the first peak of Covid 19 in April 2020 and the steps taken that day were an emergency measure. The team recognise that the lady’s experience of waiting for her dialysis session would have been better in her own home rather than in the hospitals waiting area.
I would like to assure you that since that day a significant number of actions have taken place to improve the experience of patients attending dialysis. All dialysis patients are now swabbed weekly so Covid cases are picked up on asymptomatic patients. This has allowed us to isolate and cohort Covid positive patients in a more planned fashion than Ms Rampadaruth experienced during the first wave and we have, so far, been able to keep all our covid positive dialysis on a single site. Additionally the renal team now have access to portable dialysis machines that were not available during the first surge in March and April 2020. This has given the team more flexibility in arranging urgent isolated dialysis when needed.
Trust Executive Office Ground Floor Pathology and Pharmacy Building The Royal London Hospital 80 Newark Street London E1 2ES Telephone:
Chief Medical Officer
Private & Confidential Ms Mary Hassell Senior Coroner Inner North London St Pancras Coroner’s Court Camley Street London N1C 4PP
The dialysis service runs at over 99% capacity and so a lack of reserve does make managing dialysis safely through the pandemic extremely challenging. They are therefore actively planning to increase capacity and are seeking the resources needed to enable this.
Finally the renal team recognise that vaccinating their vulnerable cohort of patients is likely to be the best strategy to prevent future deaths among their vulnerable cohort of patients. They have been strongly advocating for this and I am pleased to say we have started vaccinating the dialysis patients when they attend for their sessions.
Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I trust that you are assured that I have taken them seriously. I am very happy to discuss or clarify any of the above points.