Raigmore Hospital found operating at 103% occupancy during unannounced inspection

A hospital in Inverness was found to be operating above its patient capacity during an unannounced inspection.

The inspection, carried out in October, found Raigmore Hospital was above its patient capacity and using additional beds.

The inspection team from Healthcare Improvement Scotland discovered the hospital was operating at 103% bed occupancy.

There was also found to be a lack of substantive staff available to look after the extra patients.

Inspectors raised concerns with senior managers regarding the use of additional beds and the oversight of infection control risks.

“Whilst the additional beds were in standard bed spaces, there was a lack of substantive staff available in these areas and as a result we observed a high use of supplementary staff in the areas using additional beds,” the report said.

“We also identified that there had been instances where infection outbreaks had not been reported in accordance with current guidelines.”

The report said the capacity breach was largely due to delays in discharging patients due to them not having “suitable package of care in place”.

“Whilst we recognise efforts being made by NHS Highland to support meaningful activities for this patient group, it is important to highlight that for those patients whose discharge is delayed they can experience poorer outcomes,” the report said.

NHS Highland has been contacted for comment.