May 26, 2008
NSW public hospitals are putting pressure on families and social workers to place elderly patients in unsuitable aged care facilities, an inquiry has heard.
"We think that the policy that the patients have to accept the first available bed is inadequate," Blacktown Hospital acute team social worker Claudia Graham told the Special Commission of Inquiry into Acute Care Services in NSW Hospitals today.
"I often hear people say (of an aged care home), 'I wouldn't put my dog in there'.
"My understanding is the pressure is coming from hospitals," she said.
Ms Graham said it was distressing for elderly patients to share a room with strangers in Sydney aged care facilities.
Social workers were under pressure to tell families to accept the first available bed, she said.
"It is not a social worker's role, it should be handled at a higher level."
Ms Graham said in her experience, 30 per cent of aged care patients died within days of being told they were going to a nursing home after being treated in hospital.
She said elderly patients should be offered more home care, and their carers should be offered respite.
"Social workers feel like they're the meat in the sandwich," she told the inquiry at Westmead Hospital.
"So much of our time is taken up with paperwork, placing people in aged care."
SOURCE: TheAustralian
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NOTE:
Special Commission Of Inquiry Into Acute Care Services In NSW Public Hospitals
19 March, 2008
North Coast Area Health Service Chief Executive, Chris Crawford is extending an invitation to staff and members of the public to attend the Special Commission of Inquiry being held on the North Coast, in Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie.
The Inquiry is travelling around NSW visiting rural, regional and metropolitan hospitals and holding a series of public hearings where individuals, including health system staff, are encouraged to come forward to present material. At these hearings, the Commissioner is interested in receiving information of relevance to the Inquiry's terms of reference: in particular, the problems facing NSW public hospitals and the solutions that could be implemented to address those problems.
Any person wishing to obtain further information in relation to the public hearings, or wishing to speak with an Inquiry Officer on a confidential basis, can contact the Inquiry at the address below.
Acute Care Services Inquiry
Level 6, 299 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
PO Box A4 , Sydney South 1235
Email: acutecare.inquiry@agd.nsw.gov.au
SOURCE: nchasNSWgov
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