CARERS

Are Carers being left to pick the pieces on hospital discharge?

Too many people are being sent home from hospital without the proper support and the burden is falling on their families, a new survey from Carers National Association shows.

One in six people looks after an elderly, sick or disabled friend, relative or neighbour. It is likely that you are a carer yourself or you know someone who is.

Carers National Association NI
11 Lower Crescent,
Belfast
BT7 1NR

The UK wide survey of 2000 carers - people who look after family, partners or friends who are ill, disabled or frail - found that hospital discharge is often poorly planned, wrongly time and badly handled.

The situation has got worse in some areas since Carers National conducted a similar survey in 1998.

The findings are detailed in a new report You can take him home now launched in Belfast at the start of Carers Week.

The timing of hospital discharge seems to be of more concern in other parts of the UK than here in Northern Ireland.

The proportion of people having to go to back into hospital within two months of being discharged has almost doubled - rising from 1 in 4 in 1988 to 43% in 2001.

However only 17% of respondents in Northern Ireland felt the person they cared for had been sent home too soon, compared to 47% in the survey as a whole.

It seems that families and carers are still not consulted prior to a patient being discharged. The survey suggests there has been a marked deterioration in this are over the last 3 years - in spite of government guidelines saying the patient’s family should be involved.

The proportion of carers who said they were consulted prior to hospital discharge has fallen from 71% in 1998 to 64% in this survey.

Only 1 in 5 carers (20%) received a copy of the discharge plan, compared to 28% three years ago. Nearly half of respondents (45%) said their comments and concerns were not taken into account, compared to 36% in 1998

Many carers were left to cope with unacceptable situations and 43% said they were not given sufficient help. Here in Northern Ireland, 61% of respondents said the person they cared for was not given enough support on returning home.

Helen Ferguson of Carers National Northern Ireland says:-

"These findings add to a growing body of evidence which suggests carers are having to pick up the pieces as hospital discharges fail. We need a more enlightened approach which places the needs of patients and carers at its heart.

"We urgently need new guidance on hospital discharge. The guidelines nay need to be statutory, so that patients and their carers have the full force of the law behind them when the rules are broken.

"Hospital trusts must also review their existing discharge policies - and whether they work in practice. Sadly our survey suggests that they often do not"

You can take him home now is available from the Carers National Association, 11 Lower Crescent, Belfast BT7 1NR.

One in six people looks after an elderly, sick or disabled friend, relative or neighbour. It is likely that you are a carer yourself or you know someone who is.

Carers National Association is the voice of carers in the UK. In Northern Ireland it is estimated that there is almost a quarter of a million people looking after relatives or friends who, because of illness, disability or frailty in old age are unable to manage at home without help.

In Northern Ireland we provide:-

Last year 1200 people used our enquiry service in Northern Ireland. We offer support guidance and vital information to carers, most of whom have no idea what help they may be entitled to, or how to access it.

RELATED LINKS

Carers National Association


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