Royal College of Nursing responds to new research on preventable emergency hospital admissions from care homes
Responding to new NHS research that shows more than 40 percent of emergency hospital admissions from care homes are preventable, RCN Head of Nursing Practice, Wendy Preston, said:
"Nursing staff in care homes want more than anyone to try and prevent the residents they care for from being admitted to hospital as emergencies. But, at present, if a care home resident has a fall or develops a urinary tract infection (UTI), particularly out of hours, staff have very few options and are often advised to call an ambulance by NHS 111 or managers.
"What is needed are dedicated primary care teams including advanced practice nurses who can promptly assess and treat residents who fall ill or injure themselves - a few areas currently have such teams, but we need them to be rolled out nationwide. Hospital is not the best place for most frail elderly people and nurses are often the solution to this problem despite services not always receiving the correct funding."
ENDS
