Care black spots with no decent hospital
System at ‘tipping point’ with elderly, mentally ill and new mothers all failed by a patchwork service
The country’s black spots for decent NHS and social care have been revealed. The Care Quality Commission today says care has passed a “tipping point” in many parts of the country, leaving A&E wards under so much pressure that safety is being compromised. Inspectors said that access to care was increasingly dependent on where people lived, highlighting several areas with no good hospital and poor standards in home care and residential homes.
WATCHDOGS have warned of a “growing injustice” as they reveal for the first time the country’s black spots where patients are routinely denied access to decent NHS or social care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) today says care has passed a “tipping point” in many parts of the country, leaving Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments under so much pressure that safety is being compromised.
Its report warns that patients are being denied care they need, with half of A&E departments failing and the number of avoidable admissions rising for elderly patients who should have received help elsewhere.
Inspectors said elderly hospital patients described being kept “in a holding pen” with 40 other patients, as they waited for a place in a care home, or help in their own home.
The watchdog said that in too many cases, pensioners struggled to get an appointment with a GP – leaving them to turn to emergency care.
The ratings warn that half of maternity units remain unsafe, despite NHS pledges to improve standards for mothers and new babies. And the CQC said too many mental health patients were being sent far from home for care.
Inspectors said that access to care was increasingly dependent on where people live. They highlighted certain areas as having no decent local hospital, and worse-than-average standards in home care and residential homes.
Services in Portsmouth, the Wirral, Isle of Wight and Kent were said to of particular concern, with most hospitals either inadequate or requiring improvement, with a lack of quality social care. Similar problems were found in Eastbourne, East Sussex and Salisbury.
In a significant intervention, Peter Wyman, the CQC chairman, said that the £20billion promised to the NHS would end up being spent on patients who should not be in hospital, unless the Government made a “long-term funding settlement” for social care.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, has said access to care had become a game of “Russian roulette” .
She added: “Older people need to be confident they will get good care that meets their needs [no matter where] they live.”
It comes ahead of a Green Paper consultation on social care provision which the Government is due to publish later this autumn. It will give details of how the NHS spending boost will be deployed.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We want the NHS to be the safest healthcare system in the world – and this starts by ensuring every single patient in this country receives the highest quality of care, no matter where they live.
“This is backed by our long-term plan to guarantee the NHS has an extra £20.5billion-a-year by 2024.”