Hospitals warn of 'granny dumpers'
By GREER MCDONALD
The Dominion Post
10 December 2008
People who dump elderly family members at hospital to go on holiday are robbing other patients of much-needed beds, an emergency medicine specialist has warned.
Wellington Hospital emergency medicine doctor Paul Quigley said hospitals around the country and internationally "unfortunately" acknowledged the practice that commonly occurred around Christmas each year, known as "granny dumping".
Dr Quigley said the hospitals had "no choice but to keep them".
"It's mainly just families that have difficulties with their elderly parents or grandparents . . . They will bring them in to hospital because they are having social and accommodation problems.
"The biggest sufferer here is always the patient. They're not responsible and they can't go home, they're not usually independent enough."
The practice of "granny dumping" was also well documented in Australia, where emergency medicine doctors had warned that a rapidly ageing society was fuelling the rise.
Abridged
SOURCE: Stuff.co.nz - New Zealand
-----------------------------------------------
Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
No comments:
Post a Comment