Member News
By Tony Grew - 26th May 2011
The health secretary has said there should be unannounced independent inspections of hospitals after a report exposed "appalling levels" of care for elderly people.
The reports on 12 hospitals from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) identified three that are failing to meet the essential standards required by law - Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, The Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust and Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust.
Less serious concerns were identified in a further three hospitals, with the remaining six found to be meeting essential standards.
The three hospitals failing to meet essential standards could face enforcement action by the regulator if improvements aren’t made.
The CQC said some elderly patients are not being helped to eat and drink, with their care needs not assessed and their dignity not respected.
In one case, a member of clinical staff described having to prescribe water on medicine charts to ensure patients got enough to drink.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "We must never lose sight of the fact that the most important people in the NHS are its patients – that’s why I wanted the CQC to look into the treatment of older patients and stamp out poor care fast.
"I also believe nursing expertise is vital to improve patient experience, which is why I asked the CQC to ensure these would be nurse-led.
"The inspection teams have seen some exemplary care, but some hospitals are not even getting the basics right. That is unacceptable.
"Where the inspections uncovered appalling levels of care, the CQC will be able to use its enforcement powers to ensure that real improvements are made.
"By measuring what is important and then publishing the results, I believe we can enter a new era of high quality NHS care for patients.
"In the future, I want our proposals for local HealthWatch organisations to be able to carry out unannounced independent inspections and hold local services to account by drawing on experience from patients and their families."
Michelle Mitchell, charity director at Age UK, said: "Every patient should be properly fed and treated with dignity as part of basic care in hospitals, and it is extremely worryingly that a quarter of the first twelve hospitals to be spot checked were non-compliant in both areas.
"It is also wholly unacceptable that some of the anecdotal evidence in the reports reveal distressing stories of medical staff having to prescribe water to ensure patients are hydrated and of some patients receiving treatment with little or no communication as to what is happening and why.
"Following Age UK's Hungry to be Heard campaign calling last year for the CQC to undertake a comprehensive review of hospital mealtimes, these spot checks are a positive step in highlighting the issues in this area. However, even though we know that hospital staff's recognition of the issues is high, much more still needs to be done to ensure that words are transferring into action on wards. There can be no excuse for poor practice and Age UK is calling for consistency of good practice from ward to ward and hospital to hospital.
"The Hungry to be Heard campaign wants the government to make all hospitals publicly publish data showing malnutrition rates on their wards and for hospital wards to effectively implement Age UK's seven recommended steps.
"Measures to ensure that older patients' treatment is consistent from hospital to hospital and ward to ward must also be taken, ensuring that all staff treat all patients appropriately at all times."
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