Serious incident at Charing Cross Hospital
A message for all patients, carers, families and friends
We want to share the facts, as far as we can at this point, of a dreadful incident that happened recently and let you know how we are responding.
On the evening of Thursday 18 September, a patient seriously assaulted another patient at Charing Cross Hospital. Despite huge efforts by our clinical teams immediately and over the following days, the patient who was assaulted has very sadly died. The Police were called at the time of the incident, and the other patient was arrested at the scene.
Everyone involved is absolutely devastated by what has happened. Our hearts are with the family of the patient who has died, and we are doing everything we can to support them. We are also supporting the Police with their investigation, alongside beginning an investigation under the national patient safety incident response framework.
Safety is our biggest priority, and we know this incident is likely to cause significant concern. We are looking to identify any lessons and improvement actions as quickly as possible, as soon as we understand more about what happened, and how it happened. It is also important to recognise that this is an exceptional situation, and there is nothing to indicate any increased likelihood of similar incidents. To provide additional reassurance, we have extended our Call for Concern 24/7 telephone line for patients and their families to include concerns about the behaviour of other patients.
