Summary
More news and allegations arising from the RCN’s Annual Conference in Liverpool. It has been asserted that hospital over-crowding and pressures on A&E occasionally reach the point that patients may get “lost” in UK hospitals when they are switched from ward to ward. Consultants then find themselves involved in “safari rounds”, to search for their lost patients.
Figures indicate that it is not uncommon for patients, particularly elderly ones, to get moved up to four or five times during their hospital stay. Further delays may be experienced during hospital discharge due to lack of social care support.
Read more: BBC News: Struggling hospitals losing patients, say nurses.
Reference
Triggle, N. (2013). Struggling hospitals losing patients, say nurses. London: BBC Health News, April 24th 2013.
[A brief reference to this item features in Dementia and Elderly Care: the Latest Evidence Newsletter (RWNHST), Volume 3 Issue 7, May 2013].
