Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Old people ‘not safe’ in Scottish hospitals, nurses say
Scotsman.com ^ | 3/20/12 | Andrew Whitaker

Posted on 03/20/2012 3:52:34 PM PDT by wagglebee

OLDER patients are “not safe” on hospital wards in Scotland because of a lack of qualified nurses to care for them, a hard-hitting report from the body representing the nursing profession has warned.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) findings come after it emerged the number of nurses in Scotland’s hospitals plummeted by thousands in just over two years, with further nursing posts lost during the last few months of 2011.

The report suggests there is just one nurse caring for nearly ten patients on old people’s wards.

A survey of almost 1,700 nurses found that 78 per cent said comforting and talking to patients was not done or done inadequately on their last shift because of low staff numbers.

Some 59 per cent said promoting mobility and self-care was left undone or unfinished, with 34 per cent saying they could not provide patients with food and drink, and 33 per cent claiming they were unable to fully help patients to the toilet or manage incontinence.

The Scottish Government insisted that the elderly were “absolutely not at risk”.

The RCN’s UK-wide figures showed that staffing levels on wards for older patients compare poorly with those for adult general wards, where each nurse cares for around 6.7 patients, and a figure of 4.2 patients per nurse for children,

The RCN said the number of nursing and midwifery staff employed in Scotland had fallen by 2,190 to 56,238 – a drop of 3.7 per cent – between September 2009 and the end of 2011.

There were also 71 nursing posts lost in Scotland between September and December 2011, according to the RCN Scotland director Theresa Fyffe, who said the number of nurses employed was at a six-year low.

The report called on the Scottish Government to take urgent action to increase the number of nurses on old people’s wards, which it said should be a minimum of one nurse to seven patients.

The RCN warned there was a danger that “care becomes compromised” and said that many nurses say “they are too busy to provide the standard of care they would like”.

The report said: “Older people in Scotland are being let down by a lack of professionally qualified nurses in hospitals, despite nationally agreed planning for the nursing workforce.

“Despite older people often having the most complex needs, the evidence suggests that they regularly suffer from a severe shortage of nurses and healthcare support workers (HCSWs), coupled with an inappropriate skill mix of HCSWs to nurses.

“Today’s evidence shows that currently one nurse cares for around nine patients on older people’s wards. The RCN says that this is not enough to provide basic, safe care, which requires a minimum of one nurse to seven patients.” The charity Age Scotland seized on the findings to demand dramatic improvements to care services in the community, to keep older people “safe and out of hospital”.

Callum Chomczuk, its senior policy and parliamentary officer, said: “We need a shift in the balance of care where resources are focused in the community.”

Ms Fyffe said the number of nurses employed by NHS Scotland was at its lowest level since September 2006 and said more than 2,000 nursing and midwifery posts had been lost since September 2009.

“Cutting that number of qualified nurses in-post is bound to affect staffing levels and the mix or balance of qualified nurses and healthcare support workers on our hospital wards,” she said.

Ms Fyffe said some health boards were doing better than others. “I would urge those health boards which are cutting the number of qualified nurses, particularly on older people’s wards, to seriously reconsider their actions,” she added.

The RCN’s findings sparked claims from opposition parties at Holyrood that Scotland’s NHS was under “huge strain”, with a damaging effect on older patients.

Scottish Lib Dem health spokeswoman Alison McInnes said: “This loss of skill and expertise threatens the quality of care that patients, especially older and vulnerable patients, can expect to receive. The Scottish Government have a duty of care to ensure that staffing levels are appropriate so the care provided is effective, efficient and equal.”

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said that the levels of care for older patients were “not sustainable” and NHS staffwere “too stretched” with their workloads.

She said: “This report highlights the very real consequences the SNP’s cuts to the health service are having on Scotland’s older people. We are increasingly seeing a negative impact on standards because hospital staff are too stretched to provide the level of care our older people deserve. Low staffing levels will also take their toll on the hard-working nurses who are being asked to do more.”

Meanwhile the RCN called for a “patient guarantee” to set out the number of nurses needed on older people’s wards.

Ms Fyffe challenged Scottish ministers to give “serious consideration” to the guarantee, of a minimum of one professionally qualified nurse per seven patients.

She said: “As health boards come under increasing financial pressure to deliver the same services to more and more people, they are saving money when nurses leave by not replacing them or by replacing them with nurses and healthcare support workers at lower-paid bands.

“Older people often have more complex health conditions so they must be given the best care by an appropriate mix of qualified nurses and healthcare support workers. This is particularly the case if stays in hospital are to be minimised so older people can return home or to a care home as soon as reasonably possible.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the report was based on UK-wide data and “there is no breakdown of Scotland-specific data, so we cannot comment on the implications for NHS Scotland”.

She continued: “Older patients are absolutely not at risk in Scottish hospitals because of lack of nurses and to suggest otherwise is wrong – there are more qualified nurses working in our hospitals now than in 2006.

“Whilst the report focuses on nurse ratios, we also need to recognise the contribution of the wider healthcare team in delivering better outcomes for patients on older people’s wards.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: moralabsolutes; prolife; socializedmedicine
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last
This is EXACTLY what we can expect with Obamacare.
1 posted on 03/20/2012 3:52:45 PM PDT by wagglebee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: cgk; Coleus; cpforlife.org; narses; Salvation; 8mmMauser
Pro-Life Ping
2 posted on 03/20/2012 3:54:59 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Not all old people.
Moslems are not under ObamaCARE.

And the terrorist who blew up TWA 800 is
partying thanks to the kind people of Scotland
who let him go.


3 posted on 03/20/2012 3:56:40 PM PDT by Diogenesis ("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " Pres. Ronald Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 185JHP; 230FMJ; AKA Elena; APatientMan; Albion Wilde; Aleighanne; Alexander Rubin; ...
Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]


4 posted on 03/20/2012 3:56:40 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

5 posted on 03/20/2012 3:58:09 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (knowledge puffeth; information deludeth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

What is the population of Scotland? Ours will be much worse.


6 posted on 03/20/2012 4:01:10 PM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (God, family, country, mom, apple pie, the girl next door and a Ford F250 to pull my boat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

According to the former head of the California Democrat Party (Art Torres) it is the duty of old white people to die. “Free” healthcare is rationed healthcare. The rationing boards will give more to some groups than to other groups. I expect affirmative action will play a big role in the rationing decisions.


7 posted on 03/20/2012 4:06:46 PM PDT by forgotten man (forgotten man)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee
When I was a child, born in the 1930's, very few people went to the hospital..doctors made house calls and people remained at home unless surgery was needed and some minor surgery's were actually done at home....looks like we will have to go back to those days and maybe doctors will return to house calls because of the restrictions that will be put on doctors....it is only wishfull thinking on my part, I think technology makes us more dependent on hospitals....but if it gets rationed, house calls may become popular again....

My DIL brother is a doctor and he and his organization only do house calls. No overhead and for most illness's it works out fine. American's will find a way...we always have...with hope and prayer......

My fathers generation, (born in 1901) had a multitude of home remedy's that worked...he passed in 1988. Much information was lost when his generation passed on....

8 posted on 03/20/2012 4:14:38 PM PDT by goat granny
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Obama has made perfectly clear he is going to kill the old whiteys.


9 posted on 03/20/2012 4:15:17 PM PDT by SaraJohnson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SaraJohnson

Obama is very anti-Whitey.


10 posted on 03/20/2012 4:18:54 PM PDT by DNA.2012
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: DNA.2012

Critical Race Theory = Klan with a Tan.


11 posted on 03/20/2012 4:24:30 PM PDT by SaraJohnson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: justiceseeker93; ExTexasRedhead; JulieRNR21; metmom; wintertime; SJackson; cripplecreek

Great Britain has gone downhill so badly, it makes the U.S. look like paradise. This isn’t happening here, but if Obamacare isn’t repealed, it could.


12 posted on 03/20/2012 4:25:40 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (A chameleon belongs in a pet store, not the White House)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Another nail in the coffin of the cursed UK!

And British, Muzzie Obama wants this for every American!

Time to nuke the UK from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.


13 posted on 03/20/2012 4:32:39 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

but, but, but it’s FREEEEEEEEE!


14 posted on 03/20/2012 4:32:39 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Think again ... no one is safe under socialized medicine. The only ones safe are the ones not under socialized medicine ... extremely rich, federal politicians, exempted federal employees, ... is there a pattern here?


15 posted on 03/20/2012 4:34:06 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (There's a pill for just about everything ... except stupid!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Diogenesis

What about the terrorist who shot up Fort Hood? Isn’t he getting free medical care courtesy of American tax payers? It’s been over two years and we haven’t even tried him yet. His medical bills are probably quite a bit.


16 posted on 03/20/2012 4:37:21 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Somewhere, my flower is there. ~ Þ)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: BykrBayb
"What about the terrorist who shot up Fort Hood? Isn’t he getting free medical care courtesy of American tax payers? It’s been over two years and we haven’t even tried him yet. His medical bills are probably quite a bit."

I'll be surprised if the guy is ever brought to trial.
And if he is and if he's convicted, he'll only get life in imprisonment -- a perpetual parasite on the the body of the US taxpayer; his medical care paid up for the rest of worthless arab/muslim existence.

17 posted on 03/20/2012 4:57:42 PM PDT by StormEye
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Coming soon to ALL hospitals near YOU!


18 posted on 03/20/2012 4:58:38 PM PDT by bkopto (Obama is merely a symptom of a more profound, systemic disease in American body politic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee
Boy has times changed. Back in the day no Nurse was safe in a hospital of Old Scots.
19 posted on 03/20/2012 5:00:46 PM PDT by NavyCanDo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Clintonfatigued

Don’t you believe it! It is as bad as that here now - ObamaoCare will make it even worse.


20 posted on 03/20/2012 5:08:01 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson