David Morganti, Winnie Barnes, Robert Conybeare and Anthony Reedman
10 Nov 2022 · Coroner Andrew Cox · Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
The coroner's concerns
1. long delays in ambulance attendance and admission into Royal Cornwall Hospital
“While the successful completion of the ICB's building project will go a long way to improving the capacity of intermediate care beds in the county, it is likely to be many months, if not years, before that additional capacity becomes available”
2. discharging patients without appropriate staffing leads to deconditioning and re-admission
“While there is an obvious need to discharge medically fit patients from Royal Cornwall Hospital, this has to be done in a controlled and manageable fashion”
3. discharge to understaffed residential homes causes health deterioration and re-admission
“Similarly, it will not benefit patient health to discharge a patient from hospital to a residential home that does not have an appropriate level of staffing”