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A&E a 'place of terror' for elderly people, nurses' union congress hears A&E a 'place of terror' for elderly people, nurses' union congress hears
(35 minutes later)
Overstretched A&E units are “places of terror” for elderly and vulnerable people, the nursing union’s congress has heard.Overstretched A&E units are “places of terror” for elderly and vulnerable people, the nursing union’s congress has heard.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said there was no longer only a winter crisis but a year-round crisis with older people bearing the brunt, as some were left on trolleys for up to 20 hours.The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said there was no longer only a winter crisis but a year-round crisis with older people bearing the brunt, as some were left on trolleys for up to 20 hours.
The NHS has missed its target to see 95% of patients at hospital emergency departments within four hours for the last 100 weeks. The RCN’s general secretary and chief executive, Peter Carter, said it was clear who was being left waiting longer. “It’s not people who’ve had road accidents, subarachnoid haemorrhages; it’s elderly people with respiratory problems,” he said.The NHS has missed its target to see 95% of patients at hospital emergency departments within four hours for the last 100 weeks. The RCN’s general secretary and chief executive, Peter Carter, said it was clear who was being left waiting longer. “It’s not people who’ve had road accidents, subarachnoid haemorrhages; it’s elderly people with respiratory problems,” he said.
Our hospitals are massively overstretched. They are running at 100% to 105% capacity every dayOur hospitals are massively overstretched. They are running at 100% to 105% capacity every day
“They are the people that end up [spending] eight, 10, 14 increasingly 20 hours on the trolleys. It’s very distressing they haven’t got food, proper toilet facilities. They get very frightened and disconcerted. It doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence if you are on a trolley for hours in a corridor.”“They are the people that end up [spending] eight, 10, 14 increasingly 20 hours on the trolleys. It’s very distressing they haven’t got food, proper toilet facilities. They get very frightened and disconcerted. It doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence if you are on a trolley for hours in a corridor.”
Carter said elderly people were suffering because A&E units were being forced to deal with people with mental health problems “in a chaotic state” as they were not being properly cared for in the community, as well as people drunk or on drugs.Carter said elderly people were suffering because A&E units were being forced to deal with people with mental health problems “in a chaotic state” as they were not being properly cared for in the community, as well as people drunk or on drugs.
Carter blamed a loss of 5,500 district nurses (46%) since 2003, the scrapping of NHS direct and its replacement with the much maligned 111 – which led to another 300 nursing jobs being cut – and delayed discharge. He also highlighted independent research, based on 33 hospitals, commissioned by the RCN, suggesting that around a fifth (18%) of permanent nursing posts in A&E departments are unfilled, rising to almost a quarter (23%) of posts for newly qualified nurses, who account for the majority of nursing staff in emergency departments.Carter blamed a loss of 5,500 district nurses (46%) since 2003, the scrapping of NHS direct and its replacement with the much maligned 111 – which led to another 300 nursing jobs being cut – and delayed discharge. He also highlighted independent research, based on 33 hospitals, commissioned by the RCN, suggesting that around a fifth (18%) of permanent nursing posts in A&E departments are unfilled, rising to almost a quarter (23%) of posts for newly qualified nurses, who account for the majority of nursing staff in emergency departments.
At Tuesday’s meeting a motion was overwhelmingly passed urging the RCN council to “put pressure on the governments within the UK to address the crisis in the A&E service”. During the debate, Lucy Frost, from RCN’s Brighton and Hove branch, told delegates in Bournemouth that the emergency department at Royal Sussex County hospital, where she works as a dementia clinical nurse specialist, was often in the headlines for the wrong reasons but nurses there were “heroic”.At Tuesday’s meeting a motion was overwhelmingly passed urging the RCN council to “put pressure on the governments within the UK to address the crisis in the A&E service”. During the debate, Lucy Frost, from RCN’s Brighton and Hove branch, told delegates in Bournemouth that the emergency department at Royal Sussex County hospital, where she works as a dementia clinical nurse specialist, was often in the headlines for the wrong reasons but nurses there were “heroic”.
“Episodic cash injections are merely a shot in the dark,” she said. “Many of the elderly, vulnerable and frail people I meet and those who care for them tell me that A&E is a terrifying experience. Hospitals should be safe, not a place of terror. Older, frail people are not service-savvy and they need to know that the ED is a place they can trust. The service is broken and needs fixing.”“Episodic cash injections are merely a shot in the dark,” she said. “Many of the elderly, vulnerable and frail people I meet and those who care for them tell me that A&E is a terrifying experience. Hospitals should be safe, not a place of terror. Older, frail people are not service-savvy and they need to know that the ED is a place they can trust. The service is broken and needs fixing.”
Mark Boothroyd, from RCN’s south-east inner London branch, said: “Our hospitals are massively overstretched. They are running at 100% to 105% capacity every day.Mark Boothroyd, from RCN’s south-east inner London branch, said: “Our hospitals are massively overstretched. They are running at 100% to 105% capacity every day.
“Patients are still queuing in corridors to be admitted and this is in the middle of summer when we don’t have all the seasonal illnesses of autumn and winter.”“Patients are still queuing in corridors to be admitted and this is in the middle of summer when we don’t have all the seasonal illnesses of autumn and winter.”
Age UK said it was not surprised by the description of old people’s experiences in emergency departments
Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “We know there’s been a marked rise in extraordinarily long wait times in A&E departments across the country, including cases where older people have been left on trolleys in corridors for hours, without food or water.
“So it wouldn’t be surprising if many older people see A&Es as a “place of terror” rather than somewhere they will be safe and well treated, this being another disturbing result of the pressures on our hospitals.
“The government’s planned £10 billion-cut in social care funding by 2020 is set to load extra pressure on A&Es. Unless policy makers act to properly resource the social care system, and ensure older people can receive the out-of-hospital support they badly need, these terrible long waits are likely to get even worse.”
An NHS England spokesman said: “England has amongst the best A&E services in the world, and patients regularly rate the quality of care as excellent, but equally there needs to be far more emphasis on helping keep older people out of hospital.”
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “This kind of regrettable language gives the wrong picture.”