Wasted hours spent waiting to leave hospital

SIR – Having spent a considerable amount of time in the past week supporting an elderly relative following an ambulance dash to A&E, I was struck by a number of seemingly poor operative practices that could so easily be fixed through relatively small changes.

For example, I witnessed three patients who each waited on their hospital bed for hours, after they had been discharged to go home, awaiting delivery of their medicines to the ward.

Surely, as these patients had already been discharged, they could have been sent to the pharmacy department to collect their prescriptions. Better still, give the prescription to the patient to fulfil themselves at a pharmacy near their home. Of course there would be exceptions – but by freeing up each bed far earlier, patient throughput would be improved.

I have spoken to friends who experienced similar problems in separate areas of the country. One even offered to take their elderly parent to the comfort of their own home and return to the hospital to collect the prescription, but was told he was not allowed to leave without the medication. This demonstrates a complete lack of common sense.

Stella Currie

Bramhall, Cheshire

SIR – I fail to understand why the NHS is spending large sums of money advertising its services on television when there are 7.5 million people awaiting treatment.

Members of the public who wish to discuss their concerns will need to obtain a referral from their GP. It may be six months or possibly longer before a specialist appointment takes place. Having seen a consultant, they will probably have to wait for several more months – or, in some cases, longer than a year – before being treated.

Surely funds spent on promoting NHS services would be better directed to dealing with the backlog.

Howard Rees

Cardiff