Being judged on the care of the elderly

Reports place new health and social care partnerships in the spotlight again

Any society is judged on how it treats and cares for its most vulnerable residents.

With an ageing population, it is more important than ever to ensure elderly care services are operating as well as they can.

Today’s administrators, after all, will be tomorrow’s patients.

Reports over the weekend suggesting patients in the west Highlands have gone without food and water and missed doses of medication because there are not enough carers to cover shifts are deeply troubling. Vulnerable people were said to have been left in bed for hours and had no personal care.

This comes in the wake of a highly critical report into the care operation in Edinburgh following the introduction of health and social care partnerships.

The idea of bringing local authority and health services closer together to provide an efficient and quality service cannot be argued with at a time when so-called bedblocking remains a stubborn problem in hospitals across the country.

Elderly patients being unable to leave hospital because care homes or home care packages are unavailable is not just distressing for them and their families, but places a huge and unnecessary burden on the NHS.

But while the rationale behind the partnerships makes good sense, the delivery, at least in some areas, has clearly been lacking severely.

Last month in Edinburgh, two senior executives who were charged with overseeing the merger between health and social care quit their posts.

Both had been under severe pressure after a damning report earlier in the year into the city’s care operation.

It was branded one of the “one of the worst reports” ever issued.

The situation in Edinburgh – and, it seems, in parts of the Highlands – is a disgrace which should shame us all.

We are reassured to learn that action is now being taken, improvements are being made, and extra staff are being deployed.

This should happen as a matter of priority and be monitored at the highest level.

It is simply not acceptable to consistently let down our elderly population – the majority of whom will have been taxpayers their entire lives – at the end of their lives and at the time when they need support the most.