Older hospital patients in England face a “widespread and systematic” pattern of inadequate care, according to a detailed statistical analysis of inpatient experience data in NHS hospitals in England.
The analysis* by Drs Polly Vizard and Tania Burchardt of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics uses data from the Adult Inpatient Survey for 2012-13 to give a detailed picture of older people’s reported experiences during hospital stays. The results showed that experiences of poor or inconsistent standards of dignity and help with eating were too high in the “vast majority” of NHS trusts. Over a fifth of older people (23%) reported experiencing poor or inconsistent standards of dignity and respect and more than one in three patients who needed help with eating did not receive enough assistance.
Poor or inconsistent care was more likely to be experienced by women, those aged over 80 and those with a long-standing illness or disability such as deafness of blindness. The likelihood of poor or inconsistent care was particularly high for patients whose hospital stay had been long or if they had stayed on three or more wards.
Click on the link to read more
http://www.onmedica.com/newsArticle.aspx?id=dd0ea49d-0d5f-480d-b17b-7f6cbf282737
Click on the link to download the full analysis*
Older peoples experiences of dignity and nutrition during hospital stays
Filed under: Elderly, Hospital, NHS, Elderly care, Hospital, lack of dignity, NHS
