Probe as young man dies after going to A&E twice
The death of a 21-year-old man who had twice attended an A&E department is being investigated.
The man had arrived at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley on two occasions in the lead up to his death.
Hospital bosses have classed the case as a serious incident and an investigation will now be carried out to see if more could have been done to help him.
The death of the man, who has not been identified, happened in July and was revealed in a new board report.
It said he had died "following presentation to ED (emergency department) on two occasions prior to his death".
It is not clear how soon before his death he went to the hospital, how long he stayed and what treatment he was given while he was there.
The Dudley Group NHS Trust, which runs Russells Hall, said it could not comment on individual cases.
Other serious incidents at Russells Hall reported during July are also the subject of an investigation, including the delay in identifying a spinal cord abnormality because MRI results were not reviewed quickly enough and a fall which resulted in a patient suffering a broken hip.
Trust chief executive Diane Wake said the investigations would seek to find out whether lessons can be learned, adding the number of serious incidents at the hospital had fallen over the last year.
She said: "The safety of our patients is the top priority for our staff at The Dudley Group and due to quality improvements the Trust has seen a reduction in the number of serious incidents reported over the last 12 months.
"All incidents moderate and above are reviewed by the patient safety team and executives, and identified as a serious incident or the incident is downgraded. Our investigations are used to identify learning locally and Trust-wide.
"We cannot comment on individual cases without the express permission of the patient or families concerned."
