Imagine being 85 years old and suffering from dementia. Life is confusing, frightening and overwhelming, especially when your routine changes. Imagine being taken from hospital back to an empty house, late at night, where you are left all alone. You have no food, no drink, no bedding, and no support to get to the toilet. This recently happened to an elderly patient, whose family had not been told she was being discharged.
Over 6,000 similar situations were reported to the ombudsman in the last year. An NHS watchdog report has detailed the harrowing experiences of many of these patients and their families. Heidi Alexander, the shadow health secretary, said: “Sadly, the cuts to social care we have seen over the last six years have contributed ... Tory ministers need to study this report carefully and prioritise making improvements to people’s experience of leaving hospital.”
Vulnerable and elderly patients are being discharged without adequate examinations, or into unsafe environments. Please sign this petition to demand that Nice (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) work with NHS leaders to ensure patients are never discharged from hospital without appropriate safeguards in place and without families having been informed.
If enough peoople sign, it will send a clear message that the public view the neglect and negligence as unacceptable, and that we are not going to let our vulnerable and elderly be put at needless risk anymore.
