Trading Standards to weigh-up NHS scales

Trading Standards officers will be checking weighing scales at Rochdale Infirmary amid fears that inaccurate equipment could be putting patients at risk.

It’s part of a nationwide crackdown following a series of pilot studies by trading standards officers which found hospital staff using inaccurate or unsuitable scales to calculate dosages of medication for patients, including small children.

In one case, a four-year-old cancer patient was weighed using ordinary bathroom scales so that staff could work out how much radiation should be administered as part of her treatment.

The scales, which were not fit for use in a hospital setting, wrongly indicated that the girl had gained weight during the day despite not having eaten and suffering from suspected dehydration. And the discrepancy could have led to the girl being given a potentially harmful dose of radiation treatment.

Other problems uncovered by officers included weighing equipment going missing and hospital staff not having access to the correct scales for specific tasks.

As a result of the pilot studies LACORS, the national coordinating body for council trading standards services, has set up the National Medical Weighing Project which will run for one year starting in April.

Trading standards officers across the country will work with local NHS trusts to inspect all hospital weighing equipment and make sure they are accurate, legal and fit for purpose. Particular target areas will be oncology and paediatrics departments.

Geoffrey Theobald, chairman of LACORS, said: "This project will give patients the peace of mind that they are receiving the correct level of medication and will help hospitals iron out any problems involving the accuracy of their weighing equipment.

"Trading Standards officers haven’t traditionally visited hospitals, but it was clear from the pilot studies carried out that the accuracy of hospital scales is cause for concern.

"It is not about naming and shaming hospitals that are found to have problems, it is about working together to tackle a longstanding problem."

Date article online: 13/02/2008