"RELATIVES SHOULD CARE FOR ELDERLY IN HOSPITAL" - SAGA DIRECTOR-GENERAL DR ROS ALTMANN COMMENTS.

DR ROS ALTMANN

DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAGA

QUOTES

September 27, 2011.

"RELATIVES SHOULD CARE FOR ELDERLY IN HOSPITAL" - SAGA DIRECTOR-GENERAL DR ROS ALTMANN COMMENTS.

Commenting on news that nursing staff may ask relatives to care for elderly hospital patients, Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of over-50s group Saga, said:

"The suggestion of hospital nurses relying on patients' visitors to care for them is astonishing. If patients are in hospital then it is hospital staff who surely have a duty of care to look after patients' needs such as feeding them and ensuring they are clean, washed and dry.

"The problem here is that too many older people end up in acute hospital beds when they really should be cared for elsewhere, but in our current healthcare system the NHS is the default safety net which looks after people when no other care setting is in place. This is a massive waste of resources and definitely sub-optimal for patients too.

"A greater use of publicly-funded domiciliary care for those without acute medical problems could save the NHS a fortune while also improving quality of life for older people.

"Many older patients do not want to be in hospital and these comments suggest some nurses - a minority, I suspect - don't want them there either. What a sorry state of affairs.

"Happily, we do see many examples of wonderful dedicated nursing staff who look after older patients marvellously, but clearly there are strains within our system. A greater emphasis on domiciliary and other social care would be better for many patients, could prevent or shorten hospital stays and save billions of pounds for the NHS.

"The sooner we recognise the need to properly reform social care and integrate this with the Heath Service, the better. We need to ensure better public and private funding for care and reform is long overdue. Andrew Dilnot has offered part of the solution, and we must get on with implementation and integration as soon as possible."

Ends

Further information:
Dr. Ros Altmann
Director-General, Saga
ros.altmann@saga.co.uk
www.saga.co.uk
07545 504513
Twitter @SagaRosAltmann

Saga Press Office
01303 771529.

Iain Macauley
im@pressrelations.co.uk
07788 978800

CARE QUALITY COMMISSION NHS REPORT: CARE APOCALYPSE IMMINENT SAYS OVER-50S GROUP SAGA.

DR ROS ALTMANN
DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAGA
PRESS RELEASE

May 26, 2011.

CARE QUALITY COMMISSION NHS REPORT: CARE APOCALYPSE IMMINENT SAYS OVER-50S GROUP SAGA.

Commenting on the Care Quality Commission report on failures by NHS hospital staff to adequately look after basic needs of the elderly, Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of over-50s lifestyle group Saga, said:

“How much more evidence is needed that the care system in the UK is about to collapse into a crisis?

“They do a fantastic job, but our nurses are not supermen and women: the truth is that nurses get little training in the care of frail elderly patients such as those with dementia, yet, because our system of care is so inadequate, far too many older people end up in acute beds on hospital wards, tended by nurses who are simply not trained to address their specific needs.

“Just because those in the frontline keep banging on about it, it does not mean the issue is any less potentially apocalyptic. This problem will only get worse as the population ages, compounded by local authority cutbacks and woefully inadequate numbers of care beds.

“While reforms of the NHS are being reconsidered, it is important that integration of health and care services is part of the picture.

“Specialist elderly care, more emphasis on preventative measures funded from NHS budgets, more domiciliary care and telehealth or telecare are all required, but there is hardly any money available for such investment.

“Without such measures it is inevitable that more older people will end up in hospital, blocking acute NHS beds and costing taxpayers a fortune.

“It's time for longer-term thinking on long term care.”

Ends

Further information:

Dr. Ros Altmann
Director-General, Saga
ros.altmann@saga.co.uk
07545 504513
Twitter @SagaRosAltmann

Iain Macauley
im@pressrelations.co.uk
07788 978800
Twitter @Press_Relations