Tuesday 9 March 2010

Patients ‘treated in dirty storerooms'

HOSPITAL patients are being treated in mop cupboards and storerooms, it is revealed today. They are left in dirty conditions with no privacy, says a survey of nurses. Two out of three questioned claimed that patients in their hospitals were moved to "non-clinical" areas because of ward overcrowding.
 
And eight out of ten feared the growing use of cupboards and similar areas was putting safety at risk, said the Nursing Times poll of more than 900 nurses. It showed that some patients were left for days on trolleys in corridors. Workers claimed people were put in areas with no basic equipment, including oxygen, hand basins and emergency call bells. They were often ignored when drugs and food were being handed out...
 
A Department of Health spokesman said: "The vast majority of NHS patients experience good quality, safe care. We acknowledge there is more to do and we strive to make services even safer."
 

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