RCPE Press Release 29 July 2013
Commenting on the editorial on the need to reduce unnecessary bed moves in the elderly, written by leading researchers at the University of Dundee and published online in the Age and Ageing medical journal today , (29 July 2013)[1], Dr Neil Dewhurst, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE), said,
“We strongly support today’s call to reduce unnecessary ward moves in the elderly. Regrettably, frail and vulnerable elderly patients, admitted to hospital as a result of serious illness and requiring specialist medical care, are disproportionately affected by boarding. This involves placing patients in non-specialised wards due to bed shortages. Such patients are likely to be the least likely to be able to cope with repeated ward moves. There is evidence that this can increase their length of stay, their likelihood of readmission to hospital and reduce their likelihood of continuing to live independently at home. This, in turn, creates a vicious circle and places further pressure on already over-stretched hospital services.
“Currently we have an insufficiency of properly supported acute beds in Scottish hospitals to ensure that these patients are treated in the right wards, by the right medical staff and at the right time. Against this background the RCPE is working with the Scottish Government to reduce boarding and we will be developing much needed guidance for the NHS in Scotland to be published later this year” [2, 3].
ENDS
Contact Graeme McAlister on 0131-247-3693 or 07733-263453
Notes to Editors
- ‘Unnecessary ward moves - bad for patients; bad for healthcare systems’, McMurdo M, Witham M, Age and Ageing, 29 July 2013.
- http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/07/25/ageing.aft079.short?rss=1
The RCPE has repeatedly highlighted concerns about the impact of reducing acute medical beds and the related adverse effects on patients -
- In April 2012 the RCPE warned that the Scottish Government’s policy of attempting to shift more care from hospitals into the community was based upon false assumptions and myths regarding the levels of inappropriate admissions in Scottish hospitals
- In June 2012 the RCPE published a survey which showed that the boarding out of patients to other hospital wards, due to bed shortages, had become a year-round phenomenon in Scottish hospitals and was resulting in reduced quality of care for patients
- In December 2012 the Scottish Government and RCPE announced a new joint action plan to tackle boarding in Scottish hospitals in response to RCPE concerns
- In February 2013 the RCPE published a response to the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry which highlighted the ongoing problems in Scottish hospitals and warned that the contributing circumstances have the potential for these events to occur in any hospital in Scotland or the UK
- In March 2013, and following reports of 124% bed occupancy in Fife and 101% in Lothian, the RCPE highlighted that the boarding out of medical patients to other wards due to bed shortages, is becoming one of the main causes of the spread of norovirus in hospitals
- In April 2013 the RCPE urged the Cabinet Secretary to confirm as policy his reported remarks, made during a conference speech, which suggested the Scottish Government had recognised bed numbers could not be cut any further.
- In June 2013, the RCPE welcomed new data published in The Herald which revealed that over 300 additional beds, opened to cope with the increased demands on the NHS in Scotland during last winter, remained open and had temporarily increased bed capacity in Scottish hospitals. However, the RCPE expressed concern that the boarding out of patients to non-specialised wards, without adequate specialist support, continues and that it is essential that patients are in the right wards, receive treatment from the right medical staff and at the right time.
- In November 2013 the RCPE will be holding a major national two-day consensus conference at which medical experts from throughout Scotland and the UK will develop guidance on how best to manage patient flow in acute hospital units and to reduce boarding. The resulting consensus statement will be disseminated immediately to Scottish hospitals to inform best medical practice.
