News
ELDERLY FACE LIFE OF INADEQUATE CARE - 9 May 2006
Many old people are prevented from having a "good death" because staff are not always equipped to deal with their needs, a survey out today reveals.
Failure to follow procedures and a lack of good staff training add up to inadequate care for old people who are dying, the poll for charity Help the Aged found.
Half of the 800 health workers questioned, which included nurses, NHS managers, doctors and consultants, said there were no "end of life" policies and procedures where they worked.
Of those who said policies were in place, 60% thought they were either ineffective or were only partly followed.
Over two thirds (69%) said conditions such as arthritis, sensory loss and depression were often overlooked in the care of old people who were dying.
Over a third (40%) said they did not have time to spend comforting older dying patients because of the stress of their job, while 59% said the care given to older dying people was worse than that given to younger dying people.
Just 5% said older people who were dying received better care than those who were younger, and 57% said they would benefit from more support or training in working with older patients.
Staff also said they felt policies relating to older people would be more effective if there was better communication (30%), better leadership (15%), more education (38%), better interdisciplinary working (21%), and greater empowerment of frontline staff (23%).
The majority of those questioned (84%) disagreed with the idea that only health professionals should make decisions about "end of life" care.
Most (95%) felt older people should be given the opportunity to express views about their care, and 88% felt time spent listening to older patients was well spent.
Paul Cann, director of policy at Help the Aged, said: "Frontline staff are working under much pressure, often with little training and support, making it near impossible to dedicate the quality of care so needed by older, dying patients.
"The resounding message from many older people facing death is that they want to be treated as individual human beings, with emotions, feelings and spiritual needs, not as a machine that needs fixing.
"Choices must be available for older people known to be dying so they can have the kind of death they would prefer."
He said "current taboos around death and dying" meant older people were often not consulted on their preferences.
Furthermore, many health workers were "not geared up" to meet the emotional needs of older people and provide comfort.
He added: "Health and care services must concentrate not only maximising quality of life for the living but also on providing a good quality of death too."
The Government launched a £12 million End of Life Care Programme last year to train staff working with dying patients.
The Department of Health said a progress report published today showed it had led to "significant improvements" in patient care.
