The troubles at North Middlesex Hospital came to a head when reports emerged of a patient lying dead for over four hours while awaiting attention at the hospital’s Accident & Emergency Department. This was one of more than 20 serious incidents recorded at the A&E in a 12-month period. In 2014 the local MP waited 12 hours in agony with a burst appendix.

A whole raft of problems have been identified in relation to A&E services at North Middlesex Hospital in the past few years. They range from broken and missing equipment to inadequate medical resources, including poor availability of doctors and consultants. At times, the treatment needs of walk-in casualties were assessed by a receptionist.

After the CQC inspection report was produced, North Middlesex Hospital’s Chief Executive was said to be on leave but widely rumoured to have resigned. Either way, a new interim chief executive was appointed to head a reinforced leadership team and deliver improvements at the hospital, particularly in A&E.

The head of the CQC later said: “It is worrying that we found that there were not enough experienced doctors on call to deal with demand. The evidence from our latest inspection last week is that the emergency department has turned a corner, but there is still much more that needs to be done. We will be watching their progress very closely.”

If you or a family member were caused serious distress or suffered a health setback as a result of not receiving adequate and timely care at North Middlesex Hospital, pursuing your case legally will raise awareness and can help the hospital management and regulators to identify ongoing problems and take action to remedy them, ensuring justice for you as an affected patient and hopefully help to prevent similar occurrences in the future.