Cuts lead to rise in emergency care (From Enfield Independent)

Cuts lead to rise in emergency care

9:42am Wednesday 1st October 2008

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The number of patients needing emergency treatment has soared because of hospital cuts.

A study carried out by Pulse, the newspaper for General Practitioners, shows that an NHS hospital scheme to reduce follow-up appointments and to discharge patients earlier has led to a 12% increase in emergency readmissions.

The investigation used data from the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement to examine the number of patients in the UK readmitted to hospital following 2007 NHS benchmarks promoting the shift of care to GPs.

It found hospitals reduced follow-up appointments by 12% between the first and fourth quarters of 2007 - from an average of 2.5 per case down to 2.2 - in preparation for the efficiency drive.

The number of day cases and bed-days reduced over the time period but the proportion of patients requiring emergency readmission within 14 days of discharge rose from 4.2% in the first quarter of 2007 to 4.7% in the third quarter.

Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) consultants' committee, said there was pressure on trusts to "push people out early".

"There are multiple reasons for an emergency readmission, but it is one of the markers suggesting an organisation should look at its discharge policy."

Dr John Ashcroft, a GP in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, said: "There have been cases in my area, especially in the colder months, when patients who really shouldn't have been pushed out of hospital, have been."

Richard Hoey, acting editor of Pulse, said: "Hospitals seem determined to discharge patients as early as possible and transfer them to the care of GPs, but without any real thought to the potential consequences.

"Sometimes a patient really does need specialist attention."

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