Hospitals 'still lack basic care'

2 December 2010 Last updated at 00:02 ET By Jane Hughes Health correspondent, BBC News

Nursing care must be strengthened and the complaints system overhauled because of continued poor care of older people in hospital, says the Patients Association.

The patient lobby group has highlighted 17 cases in England and Wales where patients were left lying in faeces, or desperately hungry and thirsty.

It said it had been inundated with similar stories.

The government said it was committed to tackling shortfalls in patient care.

The Patients Association acknowledged that most patients do get good treatment, but said some were still being denied the essentials of nursing care, even though it highlighted serious problems last year.

A national survey of hospital experiences in England suggests that nearly half of all patients rate their care as excellent, and just 2% said it was "poor".

Family complaints

Liz Pryor said her elderly mother Anne Robson went to hospital following a fall in January and became badly dehydrated and lost weight. She says her mother was left lying in a nightdress that was wet up to her armpits with urine.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It's a scandal, and it's outrageous that it has been persisting for years"

End Quote Katherine Murphy Patients Association

She died within hours of being discharged.

"Mum was admitted with a suspected fractured hip and she was discharged a week later about to die," said Liz Pryor. "I think that's unacceptable.

"I don't think anyone did anything on purpose, but it's a systemic, viral attitude."

The hospital does not accept that she deteriorated during her hospital stay, according to the report compiled by the Patients Association.

Louise Jacob's daughters Deborah and Rebecca said she went to hospital in January following a stroke. They said staff often failed to give her the medication she needed, and she was left propped on a bed pan for long periods of time.

<!-- Embedding the video player --> <!-- This is the embedded player component -->

<!-- embedding script -->

<!-- companion banner --> <!-- END - companion banner --><!-- caption -->

Liz Pryor said her mother's hospital care was "unacceptable"

<!-- END - caption -->

<!-- end of the embedded player component --> <!-- Player embedded -->

They were then prevented from visiting her because of an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug, norovirus, on the ward. Mrs Jacob died a few days later.

"The indescribable heartache and anguish caused through us not being allowed to visit our mother will be with us for ever," her daughters told the Patients Association. "We can never forgive the hospital for the way Mum was badly let down during the last few weeks of her life."

According to the report, the hospital apologised to the family and said it was not their intention to stop visits to seriously ill patients.

Wider failings

The Patients Association said the 17 cases highlighted wider failings in NHS nursing care.

It is calling for the introduction of independent "patient safeguarding champions" at every hospital to check that nursing standards are maintained.

It also wants the NHS complaints process to be overhauled.

"Surely the essentials of nursing care are what every patient deserves and should get?" said Chief Executive, Katherine Murphy.

"It's a scandal, and it's outrageous that it has been persisting for years."

The family of former Patients Association president, Claire Rayner, who died in October, is backing the calls for change.

"If she were here today she would have been hollering from the roof tops about it," said Claire Rayner's son Jay.

"Any health system is only as good as its failings, and those detailed in these pages are truly dismal."

'No excuse'

The Royal College of Nursing said there was no excuse for poor care.

General Secretary Peter Carter said: "Neither the RCN nor the overwhelming majority of committed and caring nurses can possibly condone the neglect, rudeness and in some cases outright cruelty outlined in this report."

However, he said problems often arise when staffing levels are cut.

Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow said the report painted a disturbing picture.

"It is an unacceptable legacy that this government is committed to tackling."

He said that was why the government would soon start publishing details about complaints.

"The NHS must become much more tuned into patient views and experience."

Powered by WizardRSS | Best Membership Site Software

Miscarriage &#39;raises heart risk&#39;

2 December 2010 Last updated at 04:04 ET

Having multiple miscarriages increases the risk of a heart attack later in life, according to researchers.

The German study, published in the journal Heart, found that women who had more than three miscarriages had a five-fold increase in risk.

The relatively young age of the women meant overall risk remained low, but miscarriages could alert doctors to future problems, the researchers said.

UK specialists said that the reason for the link was still unclear.

The study looked at more than 11,500 women aged between their mid-30s and mid-60s.

They looked at the pregnancy history of those who had suffered heart attacks, and compared this to the rate of miscarriages in the other women.

They found that one in four of the women in the study reported having a miscarriage - although this number could be higher because some women become pregnant then miscarry without realising what has happened.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It is possible that there is some common predisposing risk factor for both miscarriage and heart disease"

End Quote Professor Gordon Smith Cambridge University

When other factors linked to heart problems - such as weight, alcohol consumption and smoking - were accounted for, having three or more miscarriages increased the risk of heart attacks by more than 500%.

A smaller increase in risk was recorded in women who had miscarried fewer than three times.

The researchers, from the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, said that the results suggested a "substantially higher" risk later in life.

They suggested that a history of miscarriage should be recorded by doctors as an "important indicator" when trying to work out whether a woman was likely to suffer heart problems in middle-age and beyond.

The age of the women involved in the study meant that the overall risk of heart attack could not be tested.

The five-fold increase refers to a much smaller risk - that a woman would have a heart attack at a younger age.

This means that even a five-fold increase does not mean that a woman who suffers multiple miscarriages is very likely to have a heart attack.

Indeed, among a sample of 2,876 women who reported miscarriages, there were 82 heart attacks over a ten-year period.

No firm conclusions

However, other specialists said that the link between miscarriage and heart attacks remained a concern.

Professor Gordon Smith, from Cambridge University, said that other studies had pointed to an increase in heart disease risk among women who had pregnancy complications, which included pre-eclampsia, and premature birth alongside miscarriage.

However, he said that the reasons why were still not fully understood, with some evidence suggesting that it was not an effect of having miscarriages.

He said: "It is possible that there is some common predisposing risk factor for both miscarriage and heart disease. During pregnancy, it is manifested by increased risk of miscarriage, and later in life, it manifests itself as an increase in heart disease risk.

"Perhaps this involves an increased propensity to blood clotting - but the honest answer is that we don't yet know."

A spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation said that it was hard to draw firm conclusions from the study.

She said: "While this is certainly an interesting observation it gives no proven explanation for an increase in heart attack risk.

"It's not simply a case of saying multiple miscarriages increase your risk of a heart attack - lots of other factors come into play.

"It's known in some cases of multiple miscarriages that the women have previously undiagnosed heart and circulatory disease, or significant risk factors for the disease, so they may have an increased heart attack risk which is unrelated to the pregnancy."

Powered by WizardRSS | Best Membership Site Software