Nursing Times: patients treated in inappropriate places
A survey conducted by the Nursing Times suggests that many patients are being treated in areas of the hospital not designed for clinical care.
Extra beds are being put in the middle of wards, patients are being put on trolleys in corridors, cupboards and kitchens as hospitals struggle to cope with the numbers, it was warned. Two thirds of the 900 responses to the survey reported patients being treated in "non-clinical" areas of hospitals.
The practice puts patients at risk because of the cramped conditions and lack of equipment around the temporary beds. The overcrowding also risks patient safety as patients have no access to call bells, water or emergency equipment and fire exits may be blocked. And putting beds too close together increases the risk that infections will be spread between patients, according to nurses who responded to the survey.
The main source for this post is an article in The Daily Telegraph which you can read in full here.
Shadow Health Minister Anne Milton said: “This is truly shocking. No patient should be put through the ordeal of being treated in an area that is unsafe or is disrespectful to their privacy or dignity.
“Nurses must be free to make decisions about where and when to treat people on clinical grounds. They should not be forced into treating people in cupboard or a kitchen just to meet Labour’s bureaucratic targets."
The choice at the coming general election is clear: five more years of Gordon Brown prioritising targets over patients or change with the Conservatives.
Extra beds are being put in the middle of wards, patients are being put on trolleys in corridors, cupboards and kitchens as hospitals struggle to cope with the numbers, it was warned. Two thirds of the 900 responses to the survey reported patients being treated in "non-clinical" areas of hospitals.
The practice puts patients at risk because of the cramped conditions and lack of equipment around the temporary beds. The overcrowding also risks patient safety as patients have no access to call bells, water or emergency equipment and fire exits may be blocked. And putting beds too close together increases the risk that infections will be spread between patients, according to nurses who responded to the survey.
The main source for this post is an article in The Daily Telegraph which you can read in full here.
Shadow Health Minister Anne Milton said: “This is truly shocking. No patient should be put through the ordeal of being treated in an area that is unsafe or is disrespectful to their privacy or dignity.
“Nurses must be free to make decisions about where and when to treat people on clinical grounds. They should not be forced into treating people in cupboard or a kitchen just to meet Labour’s bureaucratic targets."
The choice at the coming general election is clear: five more years of Gordon Brown prioritising targets over patients or change with the Conservatives.
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