Frail: The report cites distraught relatives saying loved ones have been completely ignored and their basic rights disregarded
Frail: The report cites distraught relatives saying loved ones have been completely ignored and their basic rights disregarded
Shocking neglect of the elderly is exposed again today in a damning report that claims the NHS is failing to meet even the most basic standards of care.
Complaints to health watchdogs include accounts of patients being left so dehydrated on wards they cannot even cry out for help.
Distraught relatives say loved ones have been completely ignored and their basic rights disregarded.
Frail patients are discharged from hospital when they are dangerously underweight while one elderly woman was sent home in another patient’s soiled clothes, held up by paper clips.
The shocking stories are detailed in an investigation by the Health Service Ombudsman, who accuses NHS staff of an ‘ignominious failure’ to care for the elderly.
Ann Abraham, whose job is to carry out detailed investigations of the Health Service, warns that the NHS is failing to respond to the needs of older people with care and compassion.
Her report concludes that doctors and nurses have a dismissive attitude and are apparently indifferent to deplorable standards of care.
It highlights ten appalling examples of neglect of the frail and vulnerable.
Its findings come just two months after the Daily Mail launched a campaign to end such scandalous treatment.
Today’s report highlights how meal trays, water and emergency call buttons are routinely left out of reach. It claims at least five of the ten patients had not been given enough food or drink during their hospital stay. They were described as individuals who tended to put up with difficult circumstances without making a fuss.
‘Like all of us, they wanted to be cared for properly and, at the end of their lives, to die peacefully and with dignity,’ it added.
Ten cases that shocked the watchdog
Poor care or badly managed medication contributed to their deteriorating health, as they were transformed from alert and able individuals to people who were dehydrated, malnourished or unable to communicate.
Accounts from distraught relatives describe how nurses are too busy chatting to help the elderly eat their food.
Patients are not even helped to the toilet and are left for months without being taken to the shower or bath. Relatives themselves are also being ignored by staff and in one case doctors switched off a patient’s life-support machine against the wishes of his family.
Critic: Michelle Mitchell of Age UK said it is difficult to imagine allowing any other group of people to suffer the same indignity and neglect
Critic: Michelle Mitchell, of Age UK, said it is difficult to imagine allowing any other group of people to suffer the same indignity and neglect
Last night campaigners and patient groups accused the NHS of failing the vulnerable.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: ‘The situation is completely unacceptable. The NHS should always get these basic patient needs right. There isn’t an on-cost to this – it is an entitlement that every individual has a right to.
‘Attitudes need to change – older patients need to be treated with respect and compassion, not as an inconvenience.’
Michelle Mitchell, charity director at Age UK, said: ‘The inhumane treatment of older people described in this report is sickening and should send shockwaves through the NHS and government. It’s difficult to imagine us allowing any other group of people to suffer this indignity and neglect, yet we know this is just the tip of the iceberg: appalling treatment of older people in the Health Service is far too common.
‘This is not only a damning indictment of our health service, but of our society in general, where older people count for less and damaging discriminatory attitudes against older people remain rife.’
The ombudsman deals with complaints that patients and relatives feel have not been properly dealt with by hospitals, GPs or other NHS services.
They are advised to raise their concerns with a hospital or surgery first, and if that is unsuccessful make a formal complaint to the primary care trust. They can also contact independent organisations such as the Patient Advice and Liaison Service or the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service.
More than 9,000 complaints were examined by the health watchdog and almost a fifth concerned older people.
Care services minister Paul Burstow said: ‘This report exposes the urgent need to update our NHS.
‘We need a culture where poor practice is challenged and quality is the watchword.
‘The dignity of frail older people should never be side-lined.
‘Leadership on the front line is key to driving out poor practice.’
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