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27/08/2009
Call For Review Of NHS Care
A patient lobby group has called for an urgent review of NHS basic standards after highlighting accounts of "dreadful" treatment of patients.
The Patients Association has heard stories of how patients, often elderly, were left lying in their own faeces and urine, had call bells taken away from them and were left without food or drink.
The organisation says self assessment allows too many health authorities to ignore problems that have been raised and has called for the regulator, Care Quality Commission, to intervene.
The charities President Claire Rayner, a former nurse and TV agony aunt, demanded "bad, cruel nurses" should be stuck off.
The report was based on 16 cases from relatives of patients in England, which the group said are just a few of "hundreds and hundreds" of similar cases from across the UK.
In a foreword to the report, Rayner said: "For far too long now, the Patients Association has been receiving calls on our helpline from people wanting to talk about the dreadful, neglectful, demeaning, painful and sometimes downright cruel treatment their elderly relatives had experienced at the hands of NHS nurses."
She continued: "We both came from a generation of nurses who were trained at the bedside and in whom the core values of nursing were deeply inculcated.
"I am sickened by what has happened to some parts of my profession of which I was so proud. These bad, cruel nurses may be - probably are - a tiny proportion of the nursing work force, but even if they are only one or 2% of the whole they should be identified and struck off the register."
The Government's Chief Nursing Officer, Chris Beasley, said: "All patients deserve the highest quality of care from the NHS and the poor care received in these cases is simply unacceptable.
"Where care falls below expected standards, this can be distressing for the patients concerned and their families and we expect trusts to take immediate action to investigate and ensure this does not happen again."
Mr Beasley noted that the NHS treats millions of people every day and the vast majority of patients experience good quality, safe and effective care.
The Care Quality Commission's recent patient experience survey shows that 93% of patients rate their overall care as good or excellent.
(GK/BMcC)
The Patients Association has heard stories of how patients, often elderly, were left lying in their own faeces and urine, had call bells taken away from them and were left without food or drink.
The organisation says self assessment allows too many health authorities to ignore problems that have been raised and has called for the regulator, Care Quality Commission, to intervene.
The charities President Claire Rayner, a former nurse and TV agony aunt, demanded "bad, cruel nurses" should be stuck off.
The report was based on 16 cases from relatives of patients in England, which the group said are just a few of "hundreds and hundreds" of similar cases from across the UK.
In a foreword to the report, Rayner said: "For far too long now, the Patients Association has been receiving calls on our helpline from people wanting to talk about the dreadful, neglectful, demeaning, painful and sometimes downright cruel treatment their elderly relatives had experienced at the hands of NHS nurses."
She continued: "We both came from a generation of nurses who were trained at the bedside and in whom the core values of nursing were deeply inculcated.
"I am sickened by what has happened to some parts of my profession of which I was so proud. These bad, cruel nurses may be - probably are - a tiny proportion of the nursing work force, but even if they are only one or 2% of the whole they should be identified and struck off the register."
The Government's Chief Nursing Officer, Chris Beasley, said: "All patients deserve the highest quality of care from the NHS and the poor care received in these cases is simply unacceptable.
"Where care falls below expected standards, this can be distressing for the patients concerned and their families and we expect trusts to take immediate action to investigate and ensure this does not happen again."
Mr Beasley noted that the NHS treats millions of people every day and the vast majority of patients experience good quality, safe and effective care.
The Care Quality Commission's recent patient experience survey shows that 93% of patients rate their overall care as good or excellent.
(GK/BMcC)
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