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    'Lack of dignity' in elderly hospital care

    Posted on 27/09/2007

    Eight NHS trusts have been formally warned for failing to meet standards for patient dignity, a report published today confirms.

    The Healthcare Commission investigated 23 trusts that had claimed to meet national standards for older patient dignity, but where complaints suggested that there may be problems. The report found that just five of the trusts complied with all the standards.

    Examples of poor practice included insufficient privacy and a lack of segregation between male and female patients. However, there were no major breaches of national standards, and the report's authors said that they were encouraged by the progress made by some hospitals.

    Head of the commission Anna Walker urged everyone come forward if they experience evidence of poor care in hospitals: 'Trusts should also know that where there is evidence that the right care is not being provided consistently, we will use all our powers of assessment and inspection. Patients and the public do not want us to let this issue go and we have no intention of doing so.'

    Paul Cann, policy director for Help the Aged, said that the findings were intolerable: 'Older people are human beings, not objects or numbers. It's nearly 10 years since we first exposed the shortcomings in hospital care and dignity for older people, yet we are still hearing all the time about shocking abuses of dignity.'



    Category: Healthcare


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