Rights of elderly

THAT there could be half a million centenarians living in Britain by 2040 should be sufficient to remind hospitals and medical staff about their obligations towards the elderly. Yet many continue to be in denial about the importance of geriatric care, and how prompt treatment can make a profound difference to a sick person’s actual chances of survival and their future quality of life.

The Dr Foster Intelligence survey is the latest study to expose systemic failings in how hospitals treat those who are too frail to speak up for themselves. However the conclusions lead to one point: how many more reports are required before this region’s countless health managers start tackle the care disparities that are being experienced across Yorkshire, and which are at their most acute at weekends when medical cover is at a premium?

Patients should not be the subject of a care lottery because of shift patterns or on call arrangements – they have a right to be treated with decency and respect at all times. Sickness cannot be turned on and off to suit the NHS’s daily circumstances.

Two issues require careful examination. First, hospitals need to assure that they have appropriate cover at weekends – especially after research in Hull highlighted the benefits that can be gained from the prompt treatment of stroke victims.

Second, families need to recognise that there is merit to specialist resources being concentrated at key hospitals to help develop expertise, and keep costs within reason.

Either way, there is still no justification for the elderly and the seriously ill to be subjected to derisory treatment because of staff shortages or failings in basic nursing. It can only be hoped that this latest Dr Foster critique is the last of its kind – but it is probably a forlorn wish given how one family recently had to hire their own nurses to oversee the care of a loved one in a Bradford hospital.