NHS - whay do they hate old people?

[R1Geezer]

http://news.sky.com/s...mns_Patient_Treatment
Generally I'm a fan of the NHS, well the idea and the intention anyway. Some of the day to day running leaves a lot to be desired but anyway, why do they seem to fail the elderly so spectacularly? It's not just a few isolated cases it just seems like institutional agism. Anyone got a closer insight into this?

[McMouse]

Why have you introduced the emotive term "Hate"? Agree that standards of nursing care for many old people is completely unacceptable, but to use the expression hate is to distort the issue.

[pa___ul3]

staffing levels at many hospitals are ridiculously depleted due to cuts, naturally as it's the elderly who require more care, they're seeing the effects more directly.

[R1Geezer]

I used the emotive term because what is happenning must be deliberate, it cannot be by accident, if it's deliberate then it must have emotion behind it, QED.

[ummmm]

My Grandad has been in hospital for over 3 weeks now. He wouldn't be left on his own for very long...some of the staff are great...some not so.

[LoftyLottie]

Watch it Vibes!!! You will be there yourself before you know it.

Not it isn't just a few isolated cases. The elderly are definitely bottom of the priorities in the system. What people ought to realise that these elderly people, many of whom cannot reason any more or seem silly and frail, were once like you and I and still deserve a lot of respect (probably more than we do!!).


The last couple of years have really opened my eyes about the care of the elderly in our system. Generally, it is appalling!!

[pa___ul3]

you really think nurses are deliberately treating the elderly poorly?

[carlton23]

To say "They smell of wee" shows the type of person who generalises other people by their own standards. Does vibraspere`s parents smell like that I wonder?

[LoftyLottie]

Paul, not deliberately as such, but less carefully and with far less compassion. I have seen an awful lot of laziness too on elderly care units, which they wouldn't get away with on other wards. A lot of the elderly cannot complain. I have to say that what I have experienced within two departments of the same hospital (and a very good hospital at that) was amazing. The wards for the elderly just didn't compare at all the the treatment in other wards - slapdash is a mild word for it.

[anneasquith]

in our hospitals " care of the elderly " is not seen as the most glamerous job. which is very sad because it can be the most rewarding, i believe out newly trained nurses would much prefer to be at the sharp end of nursing ie more acute situations as oppossed to chronic health care....................IMO

[LoftyLottie]

Anne, I agree and I hate to say it, it seemed as if the less able and less intelligent young nurses were being pushed more towards care for the elderly because they showed less inclination to be at the sharp end. Care for the elderly is very specialist care and needs to be seen as rewarding work.

I learned a lot during my three weeks of spending almost 24 hours a day with my mother in her last few weeks in hospital. I had time to really observe and I was very upset by what I saw.

[carlton23]

Just think, they will be with any luck.

[R1Geezer]

well they are starving/thirsty/cold/dirty etc etc any they all happen deliberately! It's known as neglect.

[weecalf]

In my humble opinion far far to much is spent on the building of hospitals .One hospital cost 65 million to build and has not got any staff Why not build a 20 million hospital and have the rest to staff it .People go into hospital to be treated not to admire the decor .To many people are making a fortune out of these buildings Not to mention the grounds and car parking .If we are serious about health then please get real and spend the money where its needed on the sick and infirm .

[R1Geezer]

yeah lets get some nizun huts eh? Perlease!

[pa___ul3]

but lofty, could that not be simply because the elderly require more care and the staffing numbers mean they simply haven't the capacity to provide such levels. My girlfriend's a student nurse and she's told me today how the hospital in which she's on placement is again understaffed meaning she has to change the beds and do, essentially, healthcare worker duties as opposed to learning. This is a regular complaint.

[ummmm]

The thing I find incredibly sad is the amount of elderly patients I see that have no visitors. Of the 6 beds on the ward Grandad was on I only seen one person get a visitor.

[R1Geezer]

doesn;t matter if they are understaffed. You have N on the ward, they all need feeding, washing etc etc, ok so it takes longer, not an issue, if they are starving to death then it's not getting done at all, is it?