Late-night discharges unacceptable, health bosses warn trust

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-33382790

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The number of elderly patients sent home from Cornwall hospitals late at night has almost doubled over the past five years.

In the last financial year, 1,218 people over the age of 65 were discharged between 23:00 BST and 06:00 BST compared to 652 in 2010.

NHS England said it was "unacceptable" without appropriate support.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals trust said it makes every effort to avoid night discharges.

A Freedom of Information request by the BBC revealed in total 21,974 patients were discharged between 23:00 BST and 06:00 BST over the past five years.

'No warning'

In 2013 Olive Thomas, 82, was called at about 01:30 BST by the trust and asked to travel from St Ives to Treliske hospital, Truro, to collect her 84-year-old husband Alan, who had been treated after suffering strokes.

She said: "I had no warning, I wasn't happy at all. He shouldn't have come home at that time of night, he wasn't really with it.

"He was discharged in just a pair of pyjamas. It was pouring down with rain and it isn't just five minutes up the road to our house it's a long way."

Royal Cornwall Hospitals trust patient discharges:

'Unacceptable'

An NHS England spokesman said: "We've said it before and we'll say it again, discharging patients at night without appropriate support is unacceptable.

"Where a patient wishes to leave late at night it should be accommodated only where it is clinically appropriate and with the support of family, friends or carers."

The trust said: "We do make every effort to avoid discharges in the late evening and at night and try to arrange for family members or carers, or, where appropriate, NHS provided transport to collect patients as early as possible."

Patient watchdog Healthwatch Cornwall said: "It is always concerning if someone experiences what could be an unsafe discharge.

"The increase in the figures over the past five years could relate to a number of factors such as an increase in demand for hospital services, an aging population and that improved data recording has had an impact on information available."