THE TELEGRAPH: One million NHS patients have been the victims of appalling care in hospitals across Britain, according to a major report released today.
In the last six years, the Patients Association claims hundreds of thousands have suffered from poor standards of nursing, often with 'neglectful, demeaning, painful and sometimes downright cruel' treatment.
The charity has disclosed a horrifying catalogue of elderly people left in pain, in soiled bed clothes, denied adequate food and drink, and suffering from repeatedly cancelled operations, missed diagnoses and dismissive staff.
The Patients Association said the dossier proves that while the scale of the scandal at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust - where up to 1,200 people died through failings in urgent care - was a one off, there are repeated examples they have uncovered of the same appalling standards throughout the NHS.
While the criticisms cover all aspects of hospital care, the treatment and attitude of nurses stands out as a repeated theme across almost all of the cases.
They have called on Government and the Care Quality Commission to conduct an urgent review of standards of basic hospital care and to enforce stricter supervision and regulation.
Claire Rayner, President of the Patients Association and a former nurse, said:“For far too long now, the Patients Association has been receiving calls on our helpline from people wanting to talk about the dreadful, neglectful, demeaning, painful and sometimes downright cruel treatment their elderly relatives had experienced at the hands of NHS nurses.
“I am sickened by what has happened to some part of my profession of which I was so proud. >>> Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor | Thursday, August 27, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Nurses who neglect elderly patients should be struck off, the Government’s Chief Nursing Officer said today.
Christine Beasley said that a report into the poor care of more than a dozen elderly patients, published by the Patients Association, was distressing and should make “sombre reading for the nursing profession”.
A report from the charity released today includes stories of people left lying in their own faeces and urine, having call bells taken away from them and being left without food or drink.
The report was published as NHS nurses came under fire for their “cruel” and “demeaning” treatment of patients, in particularly the elderly.
The Conservatives said today that about 1,000 people a year were dying from pressure sores in England and Wales.
The condition, linked to poor hygiene and long periods in hospital or at home, has been cited regularly on death certificates over the last five years, a response to a parliamentary question disclosed.
Anne Milton, MP, the Conservative health spokeswoman, said: “This is yet more evidence that the strain that Labour’s tick-box target culture is putting on NHS staff is having a devastating effect on hundreds of patients and families in the UK.
“NHS frontline staff are being overburdened by red tape and paperwork and are consistently being spread too thin and too wide across the service. They must be released to do the job that they are there to do — to help people — or risk yet more unnecessary and needless deaths. >>> David Rose, Health Correspondent | Thursday, August 27, 2009
