General Chat

The government is planning to ease so-called bed blocking on NHS wards by sending recovering patients to "hospital hotels"

New mothers and stroke patients could also use such services, which would be run by private hotel chains and provide en-suite facilities, television and room service.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10011431/Hospital-hotels-for-30000-elderly-patients.html

If managers STOP opening and closing wards on a daily basis their would be no need to BED BLOCK,

An example that my wife has to deal with on a daily basis is the management use wards like a production line, patients are moved from one ward to another to make way for "new" patients then gets moved again to another ward because another "new" patient and again for another "new" patient and on it goes, all the time wards are being closed and reopened to make way for this to happen and it all takes nursing staff away from doing the job they are supposed to be doing and does absolutely nothing for the continuity of care

Roy

nice little back hander for the tory supporting companys no doubt

Terryj, Would that be the same little back hander that some Labour supporting companies had when they where in power

Roy

Maybe at my age my memory is playing tricks, but in the 1950's/1960's, in Scotland anyway, many hospitals had convalescent wings/homes - so this is not really a new idea :-S

Wonder where the 'nursing' staff for these new hotel style wards will come from as we cannot recruit enough to staff real wards!!!!

And these are meant to be on-site in the hospital, where!!!! Most hospitals are crying out for space.

In the Bromley area where I live, most of the land belonging to hospitals has been sold of to housing developers, it is only Orpington that has any land left and that hospital is about to meet it's demise shortly.

One major problem with 'bed blockers' is that they have no-one to look after them once they go home.

Not everyone has family to pop around and many elderly may not want strangers popping in to help. And many would not expect their friends to do some of the less salubrious jobs that may need doing for them.

I think the idea is very scarey. I already have a do not resuscitate on my medical file. Swiss euthanasia clinic Dignitas is my ideal - http://www.dignitas.ch/?lang=en.

Better that than some of the upsetting sights I've had to witness.. can't even talk about them.

I think Hospital Hotels are a brilliant Idea ....

Having just ( MONDAY) been discharged from Hospital myself , there were 3 Ladies waiting to go for a package convalescence .....but nowhere was there a place for these 3 Ladies they were still waiting when I left ,one has been waiting 10days !!!....... blocking of beds are really such a problem for the NHS, something has to be done ... : and soon .

Mmmm.....I think these places used to be called Convalscent Homes.

Convalescent Homes or Wards were often attached to the hospital itself, where space permitted, but in many cases they were situated out in the countryside or by the sea - a building with lots of green space and gardens around it. This was of great advantage to the patient, particularly if they were from the city, as they got plenty of fresh air and exercise in pleasant and peaceful surroundings.

My father, brought up in a poor and overcrowded area of London, suffered as a child from the damp and poor living conditions at home. He had 2 long spells in the Middlesex hospital, after lung operations, in 1934 and 1937.
When he was recovering (but not well enough to go home) he spent several months at a Convalescent Home in Clacton on Sea - lucky for me his mum and uncle took photos when they visited. The album came to light just a year ago, and with a bit of detective work I have been able to discover the Home was linked to the hospital - it was the Middlesex Hospital Convalescent Home! It did have extensive gardens, which have since given way to a housing estate, but the original building was renovated to flats and is now called Middlesex Court. :-D the exterior of which has changed little.


So, what of these Convalescent Homes, and who, in their wisdom, decided that patients in recovery no longer needed such places and could instead be sent straight home? Oh, now don't tell me it was all to do with money :-0 :-0 :-0

In 1977 my father needed a fairly minor operation, after 4 days they sent him to an old isolation hospital in the town that had been turned into a convalescent home.

He had other medical problems and they just wanted to keep an eye on him, this was ideal for that. There was medical staff there but not in the numbers required in the surgical ward. Now he would have to stay in the main hospital.

The following week he was sent home having been monitored for another week. He didn't bed block and the docs were satisfied he was ok.

There used to be dedicated Geriatric hospitals, but they were closed down in the 80s as being uneconomic to run.
I presume this new idea will have to be paid for by the patient in a similar way to residential care. Convalescent homes & geriatric hospitals were covered by the NHS.

At the "moment" I think the cost will be picked up by the state.

It appears some UK hospitals already provide accommodation for patients who need to stay close to hospital premises but do not need constant medical care.

University College London Hospitals (UCLH) provides hotel rooms where patients, such as those needing daily cancer treatment, can stay with relatives near to the hospital.

UCLH says the cost, which is paid for by the NHS, is cheaper than 24-hour hospital care.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22262357

Putting my cynics hat on, I would place a bet that if this proposal is implemented, it will be a stepping stone to a "two tier" care system:-

Tier One - Will be for your actual operation/treatment and that cost will be met by the state.

Tier Two - Will be for your convalescence after your operation/treatment and that will probably be means tested.

Watch This Space ;-)