NEWS RELEASE FROM THE
REGISTERED NURSING HOME ASSOCIATION
Issued 5th January 2004
DELAYED HOSPITAL DISCHARGES:
ELDERLY AT RISK BECAUSE CARE SYSTEM
IS ‘MUDDLING THROUGH WINTER’
Local authorities throughout the UK are being urged to be more ‘up front’ about their plans for caring for their frailest elderly residents this winter.
The country’s nursing home leaders claim that virtually no councils have bothered to consult or involve the independent care sector in discussing how to cope with any upsurge in demand for places.
In a statement today (5th January), the Registered Nursing Home Association (RNHA) said the new government-imposed system of fining local authorities for causing delays in hospital discharges, which comes into force this month, could create a sudden rush for places in care homes.
But, the RNHA warns, the continuing loss of beds in independent nursing homes is likely to mean that some councils will find it difficult to arrange patients’ discharge from hospital quickly enough to avoid government fines. Care homes are reported to be closing at the rate of almost two a day, leading to acute shortages of places in some areas.
Responding to claims by University College London researchers that older people might be forced by the new system into accommodation they did not want to go to, the RNHA insists it would be unacceptably bad practice to allow this to happen at any time.
Said RNHA chief executive officer Frank Ursell: “We think this is scare-mongering and we don’t agree with the researchers’ conclusions that it is a likely outcome. But whilst we are sceptical about the government’s use of fines as a means of getting things done, there is no doubt that local authorities needed to be encouraged to take firm action to reduce delayed hospital discharges.”
He added: “Once an older person has got over the acute phase of their illness in hospital, they should be discharged as quickly as possible. Hospital is the most inappropriate environment in which to provide them with continuing care during their recovery. It is also the riskiest for their health. There are around 5,000 deaths each year from hospital acquired infections, with older people being a particularly vulnerable group.”
During 2004, the RNHA plans to redouble its efforts to persuade local authorities and the NHS to engage more effectively with the independent sector, which provides the majority of long-term nursing and residential care to older people.
“A particular concern would be the consequences of a major flu outbreak over the next two months,” warned Mr Ursell. “As things stand, it is unlikely that councils, hospitals and the independent sector would be ready for it. The care system is this country is still far too fragmented.
“Councils and hospitals don’t co-operate closely enough with one another, and they certainly don’t talk often enough and meaningfully enough to the managers and nurses of independent sector homes. Many of those who hold the purse strings are stuck in the great old British tradition of muddling through. It is that kind of attitude which is failing older people who need the most help.”
The RNHA’s message to local authorities and NHS bosses is clear. Said Mr Ursell: “We want them to be more open in their dealings with their local care homes, to share information and to draw up workable contingency plans with us for dealing with potential pressures in demand. This is a time for all parts of the care industry to talk to one another, not to be playing a game based on the fear of incurring fines for not meeting an arbitrary deadline.”
END
For further information please contact:
Frank Ursell, Chief Executive Officer, RNHA
Tel: 0121-454 2511 or 07785 227000
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