20.03.13
Patients left alone when they call for help – CQC
Hospitals are failing to offer patients privacy and dignity, a new review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows.
The 2012 Dignity and Nutrition Inspection programme (DANI) found that 88% of hospitals met patients’ nutritional needs compared to 83% in 2011, but the number that treated patients with dignity has fallen from 88% to 82%. The CQC reports that call bells were left unanswered and people were left to get to toilets without assistance.
84% of 500 care homes respected patients’ privacy and dignity, while 83% met their nutritional needs.
CQC chief executive David Behan said: “We found good care and care that had improved. However, it is disappointing people are still not being given enough privacy when receiving personal care and that they are left alone when they call for help.
“This is basic care and getting it right can transform a stressful experience for an older person into a supportive and caring one.
“Safe, good quality care is not complex or time-consuming. Effective leadership and staff who feel supported make this happen every day. We want all services to learn from the best.”
NHS Confederation deputy director of policy Jo Webber said: “It is every patient's fundamental right to be treated with dignity, and it is every NHS staff member's job to make sure that all patients are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. Anything less and we are not doing our jobs right.
“We should consider any occasion when we fail to provide dignified care to be as significant as a prescription error or similar untoward incident.
“The NHS overall – commissioners, providers and regulators – should guarantee that every patient's nutrition and hydration is considered and protected as a basic human right. There is simply no excuse for failing to get it right, every single time.”
Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s shadow minister for care and older people, said: “It is completely unacceptable for any older person in a hospital or care home not to get help with eating, drinking or going to the toilet, and not to have their privacy properly respected.
“Instead of focusing on these issues, the Government has wasted £3bn on a backroom NHS reorganisation and cut 4000 frontline nurses. Our older people deserve better.”
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