Patients
are getting lost in hospitals across the UK because they are constantly being
switched from ward to ward amid pressures on A&E, nurses say.
The
situation has got so bad staff are carrying out what have been dubbed “safari
rounds”, where consultants go searching for their lost patients.
Figures
show it is common for patients, particularly elderly ones, to get moved four or
five times during their stay.
One
nursing union representative said it was a “constant juggle” of patients.
Wow! This
is a pretty shocking set of circumstances we’ve ended up with; consultants are
now essentially going on reconnaissance missions in an attempt to look for
patients that have been lost in a large scale game of musical beds. I wonder
how many patients have died as a result of a doctor or nurse not being able to find them?
NHS
England has announced a review of emergency and urgent care, but the phrase
closing the gate after the horse has bolted springs to mind.
Instead
of spending the time it will take them to produce a report that highlights the
problems that everyone already knows, shouldn’t they, and the government, be
offering up reforms and solutions?
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