17.04.11
SHAs warned to stop night-time discharging
The practice of discharging patients from hospitals in the middle of the night must be ended, Sir Bruce Keogh has warned Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs).
The Times recently reported figures from 2011 that suggested 100 trusts sent 239,233 patients home between 23:00 and 06:00. This accounted for 3.5% of all discharges.
The figures were met with criticism by health professionals and charities, who argue that many of the patients sent home at this time would lack sufficient support.
Sir Bruce, medical director for the NHS in England, wrote: “While some patients may of course choose to be discharged during these hours, the examples highlighted of elderly patients being left to make their way home by themselves in the middle of the night are obviously unacceptable, and need to be addressed urgently.
“As health professionals we all agree that patients should be treated with compassion, so it is simply not acceptable to send people home from hospital late at night when they may have no family members nearby to support them.”
Sir Bruce will meet with the medical directors of SHAs in May to check on their progress
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