Patients suffering as nurses fail to respond to call bells

A report by the Care Quality Commission has found that only 13% of patients surveyed said that they were attended to straight away.

Six per cent of patients said that they waited for longer than five minutes and one per cent said their call bell was not answered at all.

Of the nearly 60,000 patients surveyed, 40 per cent said that there were not enough nurses on duty, with 11 per cent saying that the ward was always understaffed.

The results of the survey also found that 42 per cent of patients who were confirmed as being ready for discharge were delayed leaving hospital and therefore took up vital bed space.

Although the results of the survey found that most patients had received good care, there was ‘significant variation’ between hospitals and called on trust management to investigate into what was going wrong.

Chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, Dr Peter Carter, said “These results show that patients are feeling the impact of low staffing levels, and that is unacceptable.

“The key to good care is having the right numbers of nursing staff with the right training in the right places. Too often this is still not happening.

“Nurses are not responsible for setting staffing levels, yet they are often the ones in the firing line when a lack of staff impacts on patients’ experiences.”

Katherine Rake, chief executive of the organisation that champions patients’ rights Healthwatch England, said “There is clearly still room for improvement in some areas, with too many people experiencing delays in hospital discharge.

“We know that delays such as these can be incredibly frustrating for patients and cause knock-on practical problems, such as making it difficult for them to arrange transport home after hospital treatment.

“It is crucial that discharge from hospital is properly planned and that patients are communicated with clearly throughout their hospital stay and during the discharge process to ensure they are not left frustrated and confused by unnecessary delays.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), News lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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