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Hundreds of seriously ill patients discharged too early

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Hundreds of seriously ill patients discharged too early

8 Aug 2017

Hundreds of patients last year were discharged from intensive care and high dependency units too early, and a lack of resources are to blame.

An audit into critical care in Scotland analysed outcomes for people released from ICUs and HDUs in 2016, including those who were readmitted within 48 hours, their discharge having been deemed a mistake.

According to the figures, 438 were discharged prematurely from HDUs, as well as 298 from ICUs.

The total figure represents around two per cent of all discharges from ICUs, and 1.4 per cent from HDUs, the official report by NHS Scotland concluded.

It stated: “High rates of early discharges are a concern as they reflect a discharge that is felt by the clinical team not to be in the patient’s best interest. This is due to underlying pressure of beds or staff reflecting a lack of available resource.”

The report showed a variation in performance across the country.

46,000 patient episodes were recorded in critical care units last year.

Aside from those discharged too early, auditors found nearly a quarter of those patients were actually delayed – for at least four hours – in their discharge.

Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said:

“While it is only a small percentage of those who are discharged too early, it still represents hundreds of patients.

“The report is stark in its admission that these patients are not being discharged early because of clinical error, but due to a lack of resources and staffing.

“This is yet another indication that poor stewardship of the NHS by the SNP government is having a very real impact on patient safety.

“When dealing with tens of thousands of admissions to critical care units, it’s obvious some people will end up having mistimed discharges.

“But for several hundred of these to occur is unacceptable, and the reasons set out in the report worse still.

“Ministers need to get a grip of this situation as a matter of urgency.”

Notes to editors:

The full report is here:

http://www.sicsag.scot.nhs.uk/docs/2017/2017-08-08-SICSAG-Report.pdf?22

It states there were 14,908 ICU patient episodes, and 31,297 HDU episodes.

Of the ICU episodes, the report stated two per cent of these resulted in “early” discharges, equating to 298 people.

Of the HDU episodes, 1.4 resulted in “early” discharges, equating to 438 people.

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“This is truly appalling and an all new low in this government’s treatment of refugees.

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New research from Labour reveals that almost half of maternity units close doors to new mothers

New research published today by the Labour Party shows that nearly half of England’s maternity units closed to new mothers at some point in 2016.

Data obtained by Labour under the Freedom of Information Act shows:

· 42 hospital trusts which responded to an FOI request say they temporarily closed maternity wards to new admissions at some point in 2016

· Some closures lasted more than 24 hours, while over ten trusts shut temporarily on more than ten separate occasions each

· In 2016 there were 382 occasions when units had to close their doors, a 70 per cent increase from 2014

· Hospitals report capacity and staffing issues as most common reason for closures

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Health, said:

“These findings show the devastating impact which Tory underfunding is having for mothers and children across the country. It is staggering that almost half of maternity units in England had to close to new mothers at some point in 2016. The uncertainty for so many women just when they need the NHS most is unthinkable.

“Under this Government, maternity units are understaffed and under pressure. It’s shameful that pregnant women are being turned away due to staff shortages, and shortages of beds and cots in maternity units.

“Families are being sorely let down by this Government’s failure to recognise the crisis facing our NHS. The Tories need to get a grip and take urgent action to make sure closures like this don’t continue to happen.”