Posted on 07/31/2010 1:13:53 PM PDT by wagglebee
WASHINGTON (BP)--Government-run hospitals in Scotland are guilty of a "form of euthanasia" by malnutrition, a patients' organization leader has charged.
Jean Turner, executive director of the Scotland Patients Association (SPA), said hundreds of patients, especially the elderly, are undernourished in National Health Service (NHS) hospitals because of a lack of assistance from staff members, according to The Herald of Glasgow, Scotland.
About 50,000 patients die in a state of malnutrition each year at NHS facilities, according to one recent report.
"The SPA would call this a form of euthanasia to allow dehydration and malnutrition to develop due to lack of awareness, lack of staffing or carelessness," Turner said, according to The Herald's July 4 story.
The patients' organization has urged the Scottish government to urgently tackle the problem of malnutrition of the elderly in the nation's hospitals. Turner indicated the problem stems from staff who do not help patients who cannot feed themselves.
One woman died of kidney failure, The Herald said, after 14 weeks in a hospital, and her family believes poor standards of care, particularly in nutrition, contributed to her death.
"Staff would tell me, 'It takes an hour to feed your mother and we don't have an hour,'" one family member told the newspaper, adding, "We believe that the care she received in that hospital is the reason she is not here today."
Turner said the case is one of many.
"If patients do not manage to swallow food, nutritious or otherwise, and drink then they will not heal, their general health will deteriorate and death may be an outcome, sooner or later," Turner said.
"... Whatever happened to measuring input and output and keeping charts to prevent this? We are in no doubt many wards short-staffed and staff do not have the time that they know is needed to provide the best care, but SPA would say it is down to all staff to be accountable and raise their issues of concern."
When the hospital staff is aware that a patient has difficulty eating, the patients' organization said it expects them to help the patient eat, The Herald reported.
Compiled by Baptist Press Washington bureau chief Tom Strode and staff writer Erin Roach.
Wait until the Obamacare numbers start rolling in.
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Considering the rough population size in the UK is about 60 million 50,000 folks just in Scotland is a big number. It appears to be the de facto standard of care across Scotland.
“Free” Socialist Healthcare is just the government’s way of culling the herd. Once you’ve been used up, you are no longer of any use to the collective.
It’s probably a lot like the Jews in Europe felt in the 30s and 40s.
That seems so obvious to any rational human being, but psychopaths tend to disagree, loudly and often.
Baroness Warnock: Dementia sufferers may have a 'duty to die'
Elderly people suffering from dementia should consider ending their lives because they are a burden on the NHS and their families, according to the influential medical ethics expert Baroness Warnock.
Makes you wonder what else they have to do that is more important. I see every day in nursing homes here in the US, feeding and helping residents eat is a major investment of time for the nursing assistants. It is a priority, for just the reasons this article illustrates.
It also helps illustrate why nursing homes are labor intensive and therefore expensive. But the alternative is unacceptible in a civilized nation. Too bad Scotland appears no longer to qualify for that category. Only question is, quo vadis America?
As far as the Anglos are concerned,it's still to Hell with the bloody Irish, Welsh, and Scots.
Just kidding,I think.
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| Baroness Warnock: Dementia sufferers may have a 'duty to die' |
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| Mary Warnock: Legalise assisted suicide, for pity's sake |
Excellent post!
Our culture has become so degraded. In Thailand, the elderly are highly respected. Normally a family member stays with the old patient to give personal care. This effort is freely given and the caregivers feel no resentment. If no family is available, the hospital care is very compassionate.
All under the guise of “social justice”......... =.=
This is from the Baptist Press, not sure if you want to ping it or not.
Where do you draw the line between malnutrition and traditional Scots cuisine though?
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