Patients discharged from hospital early or without assessment
- May 11, 2016
- EmmaArnold
NHS patients are being sent home from hospital afraid and with little support, especially vulnerable people such as the elderly.
The report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) shows patients were either discharged early to left in unsuitable condition once back at home.
The PHSO found patients' safety and dignity was compromised due to poor planning and communication between hospital staff and health and social care services.
After investigating over 200 complaints, which was an increase of a third in the previous year, the report found patients were being discharged before they are clinically ready to leave and not being assessed properly.
The report also found that relatives and carers are not being told their loved one has been discharged or they have been sent home with no care plan in place.
Lesley Herbertson, senior clinical negligence solicitor at PotterReesDolan, said:
Whilst NHS resources are stretched, discharging patients before they are ready to cope in their normal home environment, without suitable support having been put in place, may well be a false economy.
Patients whose health remains vulnerable and who are not able to properly care for themselves, at the point of discharge, are more likely to take backwards steps in terms of their recovery and find themselves being re-admitted to hospital.
Rehabilitation post a period of ill-health is extremely important, forming an essential part of the recovery process. Joined up thinking between health and social service providers is essential.
The complaints investigated included an elderly woman who was transferred to a nursing home in a distressed state with a cannula still in her arm.
Another patient died in her granddaughter's arms shortly after being sent home from hospital in an ambulance after she wasn't examined properly.
The family of another patient complained after the woman was left in her home with no food, drink or bedding and unable to care for herself.
An NHS spokesman told the BBC how patients should never be discharged without the appropriate safeguards in place but said how they should also not be stuck in hospital longer than necessary.