Learn lessons from around Europe on hospital care for patients with dementia, says MEP
November 17, 2009 7:04 PM
Dementia sufferers need extra care after a stay in an acute ward
West Midlands MEP Liz Lynne has called for healthcare providers to learn the lessons from other European countries and share best practice on hospital care for patients with dementia.
Responding to a warning from the Alzheimer's Disease Society today that many sufferers spend too long in hospital when being treated for unrelated conditions, the LibDem MEP said it was vital that lessons were learned from the different ways patients were treated in healthcare systems around Europe.
Liz Lynne, first Vice President of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee in the European Parliament said: "Across the EU, there has been a huge growth in life expectancy and the diseases of old age, and every national healthcare system has had to deal with care for millions of older people with degrees of dementia.
"I welcome the warning sounded by the Alzheimer's Society today, it is clear that this is a crisis that is both unnecessary and very expensive. It is particularly worrying that up to half of patients come out of a stay in an acute bed in a worse condition overall than when they went in.
"This follows the alarming reports last month of the problems caused by poor staff training in dispensing drugs to elderly people in care and underlines the same problem.
"Every European country has to find a way of caring for much larger numbers of elderly people, many of whom are suffering from dementia, though distinguishing those who are not is also important. We need to learn the lessons of different approaches and see if we can avoid making the mistakes and sharing best practice."
Liz Lynne also called on local NHS trusts to provide more community and intermediate care beds as a way to cut costs and improve care for patients with dementia.
"Clearly it is not good for patients to stay in an acute ward for longer than necessary, but it is not always possible to send them straight home. Intermediate care beds are a less stressful environment where staff can concentrate more fully on care needs and are clearly more suitable once the immediate acute treatment has been received.
"Community care beds are both cheaper to run and have a better outcome than a continued stay in an acute ward. But many trusts are desperately short of them, which is one cause of bed blocking.
"Around Europe there are many different models of convalescent care which could offer valuable insights, and also demonstrate ways of saving money. This is a shared problem, we need to work together to share the solution."
ENDS
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