Dozens of patients died or came to harm due to treatment delays and serious errors made by staff working under extreme pressure at a Greater Manchester hospital trust, according to internal reports.
Lengthy delays were linked with 28 deaths and 56 issues of severe harm, while problems diagnosing illness led to ten deaths last year at the Northern Care Alliance (NCA), which treats more than a million patients at hospitals in Salford, Oldham, Bury and Rochdale.
Never Events and Maternity Concerns
There were ten never events recorded at the NCA across 2025 and 2026, which the NHS describes as patient safety incidents that were wholly preventable, according to the trust's own reports. Concerns were also raised with maternity care, with reports highlighting an issue with increasing numbers of stillbirths recorded earlier this year.
There were 12,000 cases of delayed treatment last year at the NCA. Bosses say persistently high levels of sick leave are a major issue.
Trust Response and Changes
In response to a story by the Independent about the trust, the Northern Care Alliance said it had changed the way it runs the organisation, putting more clinicians into leadership positions and giving them a direct role in making decisions and driving improvements.
They said: “Like many NHS organisations, we’re facing challenges. We’re clear about what those challenges are and recognise the concerns colleagues have raised. We are working to address those concerns and will continue to listen when colleagues tell us we haven’t got something right, so that we can keep learning and improving.
“We have clear processes to investigate incidents and learning from these is an area we need to prioritise. By doing this, we can drive forward improvements and maintain our focus on safety.
“We’ll continue to work with our partners, including our local authorities and Integrated Care Board, as part of our ongoing commitment to making improvements.”
Surgical Errors and Staffing Pressures
The trust's own reporting shows most of the ten never events were when staff had carried out surgery on the wrong body part or accidentally left something behind in the body during an operation. They said this has been caused by staffing pressures and when operating theatre staff were overwhelmed.
A recent board report said: “Sickness absence remains an area of concern. Levels are higher than they need to be and the Trust continues to be an outlier compared with other organisations nationally.
“This is likely to reflect a range of factors, including sustained pressure on colleagues, and further work is required to support wellbeing and address underlying causes.”
Political and Regulatory Scrutiny
Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey said: "I have been raising patient safety and whistleblowing concerns at the NCA for some time, working with patients, families and staff affected by the John Bradley Williamson case, challenging the Trust over Salford gynaecology, and taking concerns directly to Government.
"These latest allegations strengthen the case I have already been making: staff must be able to speak up safely, concerns must be properly investigated, and there must be independent scrutiny where the Trust has failed to act.
"This is not about undermining the many dedicated staff working across the NCA. It is about ensuring they are properly supported, that they can raise concerns without fear, and that patient safety is always put first.
"I will continue pressing the NCA, NHS England and Ministers until patients and staff can have confidence that these issues are being addressed."
The trust was issued a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February highlighting the services where rapid and significant improvements were needed. The warning followed an inspection of Salford Royal Hospital in September 2025, which was carried out due to concerns regarding how gynaecology, spinal and neurosurgery services are managed, as well as to look at their safety processes.
The hospital's surgical services were rated as requires improvement by the health watchdog after inspectors found that some aspects of the service were not always safe and there was an increased risk that people could be harmed.
In January this year, the CQC carried out an unannounced inspection of emergency care at Fairfield General Hospital. Inspectors found immediate patient safety concerns in areas of Medicine and Urgent & Emergency Services at the hospital.
The NCA recently apologised for the actions of rogue surgeon John Bradley Williamson who worked at Salford Royal Hospital, the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Spire Manchester Hospital. Separate reviews found he had caused severe harm to patients across the region.
The NCA said in its July report: “The Trust acknowledges and deeply regrets the serious failings of the past and the harm caused patients, families, and staff. The Trust remains committed to openness, learning, and continuous improvement; to providing compassionate, trauma-informed engagement with those affected; and to assuring itself, and others, that the changes made since early reviews are effective, embedded and sustained.”
Unison the trade union said today that more than 350 NCA employees including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers are walking out on strike on August 24, 26 and 28. The trade union said the argument is over the trust’s use of an outside agency – NHS Professionals (NHSP) – to manage overtime work.
