Councillors say they are concerned about staffing levels and patient records at the Royal United Hospital in Bath following a damning report.

An independent inspection found staff did not know how much fluid vulnerable older patients had consumed and that a patient was left in a soiled bed for ten minutes.

It was carried out by the Care Quality Commission on four older people’s wards in June as a follow up to concerns it had at an inspection in February.

Its report was considered by Wiltshire Council’s Health Select Committee on Tuesday.

The CQC said the RUH did not meet standards in respecting and involving patients, care and welfare of patients, safeguarding patients from abuse, assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision and records. It did meet the standard of co-operating with other providers.

The report said on two of the older people’s wards the hospital had suitable arrangements to ensure patients’ privacy, dignity and independence but on the other two wards it said it did not.

The report said CQC inspectors were alerted to a patient in a soiled bed: “We observed the patient waited ten minutes in this odorous, soiled bed, before staff came to help them.

“The patient who was immobile and was calling for help during this time. At the point when we had decided it had been too long and we were about to look for staff to help, staff came to support them.”

The CQC inspectors found on three of the four older people’s wards there were systems in place to check patients’ care needs were being assessed and delivered but these were not being used in a co-ordinated and consistent way.

The CQC found that there were four patient information recording systems – an electronic record, handover sheets, patients’ written notes and white boards – but staff told them they did not have time to use all of them and they chose the system they found the quickest, meaning that staff could be using information that was not up to date.

Inspectors examined 100 fluid balance charts and found 90 were not filled in daily, even when patients had infections or had difficulty in feeding themselves.

The report also said one patient was given a hydration chart to fill in themselves but they did not know how to do so.

Coun John Noeken, vice-chairman of the committee, said the report was a grave disappointment while Coun Dr Helena McKeown, a GP in Salisbury, said the RUH is drowning in policies.

Coun Mary Douglas said she was amazed the nursing staff to patient ratio was at a correct level as she believed the report demonstrated otherwise.

RUH chief executive James Scott said: “I would like to apologise for our failure to appropriately look after our patients with the privacy and dignity they would expect.”

Helen Blanchard, director of nursing at the RUH who joined in August, said since the CQC inspection training for staff had been carried out and more funding would allow ward sisters to have the time to oversee staff and patients on the wards.

Mr Scott said £750,000 has been spent on additional frontline nurses. He said the ratio of nursing staff to patients is fine.

Dr Steve Rowlands, chairman of Wiltshire Clinical Commission-ing Group, told the committee: “I don’t think we can ever be complacent about a report like this. There has been an awful lot of work done since the visit by the CQC in June to put things right.”

The CQC is back at the RUH on December 4. A CQC meeting for patients to tell of experiences or con- cerns is at County Hall, Trowbridge, on December 5 at 6.30pm.