In what might be one of the saddest commentaries in the history of the NHS, a new study conducted by the King’s Fund Thinktank suggests that hospitals rush elderly patients who have a broken hip, pneumonia or have suffered a stroke home so that beds can be ‘freed up.’ According to this ‘influential’ thinktank, these elderly patients are ‘wasting’ national resources.
In the report, it is said that hospitals should cut the amount of care given to the ‘very elderly’ so that it will be possible to meet the budget set forth by government. The King’s Fund states that unless hospitals cut the amount of money spent on the elderly it will not be achievable to meet the target deadline set for 2015. The goal is to save £20 billion by increasing efficiency.
Apparently the King’s Fund is stating that it is simply inefficient to care for the elderly in the UK in the long term because they may be healthy enough to return home more quickly. By rushing them through the system to open a bed for the next patient, it is believed that the efficiency goals can be met more easily.
In the study, most patients who arrive at emergency are released within 24 hours however those who stay more than two weeks are statistically over the age of 65. Also according to the report, the most common causes for admissions are pneumonia, stroke, urinary disorders, hip fractures, delirium and dementia.
The report further contends that if these patients aren’t released sooner they increase the risk of contracting contagious diseases from other patients in hospital. In fact, the report also states that elderly people staying for periods considered to be too long by the thinktank are also in jeopardy of losing their independence.
In the end, Mike Farrar who is the NHS chief executive believes that it is the lack of social care which will drive these patients into hospitals. On the other side of the coin, the health secretary backs the King’s Fund report and feels that elderly patients should free up beds sooner.
