A retired hospital consultant has warned that more patients at Northern Care Alliance (NCA) hospitals will die avoidable deaths unless major changes are made.

Dr Glyn Smurthwaite, 65, worked as a consultant at Salford Royal from 1995 to 2024. He described the trust, which runs hospitals in Salford, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale and treats more than a million patients, as utterly unsafe and toxic.

His warning follows dozens of patient deaths and cases of harm at NCA hospitals linked to treatment delays and staffing errors, according to the trust's own reports. Lengthy delays were linked with 28 deaths and 56 issues of severe harm, while problems diagnosing illness led to ten deaths last year.

Dr Smurthwaite called for the removal of the current board of directors. He also claimed the Datix patient safety reporting system was ineffective, saying he had filled in hundreds of forms asking for feedback and none had ever resulted in anything meaningful.

He alleged that some consultant doctors at NCA hospitals were appointed as locums without being on the General Medical Council's specialist register, and that some had moved into permanent roles. He questioned why Oldham had many doctors called consultants who were not on the specialist register.

Asked if there could be more avoidable deaths without urgent changes, he said there could undoubtedly be more.

Patients have also spoken out about their care. Joshua, who did not give his surname, spent around 16 weeks in hospital on and off after developing a life-threatening infection following non-urgent knee surgery at Fairfield General Hospital. He eventually required a through-knee amputation.

He described an incident where he was left bleeding heavily after surgery and shouted for help for 15 minutes before anyone came. He also said meals, water and medication were sometimes delayed or missed, and that he had to beg and plead for pain relief.

Another woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said her 76-year-old mother spent around 30 hours on a trolley in an A&E corridor at Salford Royal in January, and a further 36 hours on a trolley during a later visit. She said her mother, who has heart failure, was not given a pillow or blanket and lost trust in staff after being given tablets she believed were the wrong strength.

Local politicians have raised concerns. Elsie Blundell, MP for Heywood and Middleton North, said she gave birth to her daughter in the Royal Oldham and her family continues to use that hospital. She said she had written to the chief executive to demand an update in person.

Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey said she had been raising patient safety concerns at the NCA for some time and that the latest allegations strengthened the case for staff to be able to speak up safely.

Salford City Council said patient safety must always be the highest priority and that concerns raised by staff should be investigated thoroughly.

The Northern Care Alliance said it was incredibly sad to hear a patient was not satisfied with their care, and encouraged patients with concerns to contact its Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). It said that in April 2026 it changed how it runs the organisation, putting more clinicians into leadership positions.

The trust said that, like many NHS organisations, it was facing challenges, was clear about what those challenges were, and recognised the concerns colleagues had raised.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said patients were severely let down at the Royal Salford Hospital and that NHS England was working with the trust to support improvement.

NHS England in the North West said the trust was already subject to enhanced oversight, with a programme of intensive support including formal undertakings on quality of care and governance.