Hundreds of thousands of patients are being sent home from hospital in the middle of the night despite a promise to limit the practice.
During the past two years at least 300,000 people, many of them elderly, have been discharged between 11pm and 6am to relieve pressure on wards.
An investigation by The Times in 2012 revealed that patients were being woken and removed from their beds, even if they had no way of getting home. Some were left in night clothes, with no medication or paperwork, and in vulnerable or dangerous situations.
At the time, health chiefs promised that patients would be moved at night only in exceptional circumstances, but new figures obtained under a freedom of information request show that the practice remains just as widespread.
More than half of the NHS trusts that responded reported that the number of patients sent home at night had increased during the past three years. Almost 60,000 of the patients were over 75. The true number of patients discharged overnight is likely to be much higher because less than half of England’s 160 NHS trusts responded to the data request by Sky News.
Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said: “These figures are truly shocking. It is simply unacceptable that patients are being discharged from hospital late at night.
“We are particularly concerned that tens of thousands of these patients are aged over 75. For older people, spending time in hospital can be extremely distressing and disorientating.
“Patients need to be treated with care, compassion and dignity. For the many older people who live alone, being discharged after early evening shows not only a lack of care and thought, but can actually be dangerous.”
Nadra Ahmed, chairwoman of the National Care Association, said that elderly patients were returning home or arriving at care homes in disarray.
“They come out very often without the appropriate papers that would give information and the history of what has happened to them. Often they will come out without the appropriate medication, because the hospital pharmacy has closed, and there is no cross-referencing to what medication they’re already on.
“You’re also discharging them into the hands of night staff at care homes, when the manager or owner may not be there, so it’s creating an unplanned and chaotic atmosphere. They may find it disorientating and very distressing. We keep hearing these platitudes that things are so much better now. But I’ve heard of people being discharged with no clothes on, just a blanket around them, or wearing soiled incontinence pads that haven’t been changed. We’re not a third world nation.”
Two years ago, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the NHS, demanded that all hospitals review how they discharged patients, describing the practice of sending elderly people home in the middle of the night as unacceptable.
He said: “By and large the NHS is coping reasonably well, but there are times of peak admissions where there are real, significant pressure on beds. But the answer to that is not chucking people out in the middle of the night.”
Two months ago, he added that moving patients within hospitals at night struck at the heart of NHS efforts to “treat all patients with respect and compassion”. He ordered hospitals to review night-time ward transfers and stop all but the essential.
Dr Mike Smith, chairman of the Patients Association, said: “They have got people in A&E lying in corridors, they have got to be admitted and they have no beds. It’s for the convenience of staff and the person they are admitting but at the gross detriment to the person they are chucking out.”
NHS England said: “Discharging patients at night without appropriate support is unacceptable. The decision to do this should always be based on what is best for the patient
During the past two years at least 300,000 people, many of them elderly, have been discharged between 11pm and 6am to relieve pressure on wards.
An investigation by The Times in 2012 revealed that patients were being woken and removed from their beds, even if they had no way of getting home. Some were left in night clothes, with no medication or paperwork, and in vulnerable or dangerous situations.
At the time, health chiefs promised that patients would be moved at night only in exceptional circumstances, but new figures obtained under a freedom of information request show that the practice remains just as widespread.
More than half of the NHS trusts that responded reported that the number of patients sent home at night had increased during the past three years. Almost 60,000 of the patients were over 75. The true number of patients discharged overnight is likely to be much higher because less than half of England’s 160 NHS trusts responded to the data request by Sky News.
Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said: “These figures are truly shocking. It is simply unacceptable that patients are being discharged from hospital late at night.
“We are particularly concerned that tens of thousands of these patients are aged over 75. For older people, spending time in hospital can be extremely distressing and disorientating.
“Patients need to be treated with care, compassion and dignity. For the many older people who live alone, being discharged after early evening shows not only a lack of care and thought, but can actually be dangerous.”
Nadra Ahmed, chairwoman of the National Care Association, said that elderly patients were returning home or arriving at care homes in disarray.
“They come out very often without the appropriate papers that would give information and the history of what has happened to them. Often they will come out without the appropriate medication, because the hospital pharmacy has closed, and there is no cross-referencing to what medication they’re already on.
“You’re also discharging them into the hands of night staff at care homes, when the manager or owner may not be there, so it’s creating an unplanned and chaotic atmosphere. They may find it disorientating and very distressing. We keep hearing these platitudes that things are so much better now. But I’ve heard of people being discharged with no clothes on, just a blanket around them, or wearing soiled incontinence pads that haven’t been changed. We’re not a third world nation.”
Two years ago, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the NHS, demanded that all hospitals review how they discharged patients, describing the practice of sending elderly people home in the middle of the night as unacceptable.
He said: “By and large the NHS is coping reasonably well, but there are times of peak admissions where there are real, significant pressure on beds. But the answer to that is not chucking people out in the middle of the night.”
Two months ago, he added that moving patients within hospitals at night struck at the heart of NHS efforts to “treat all patients with respect and compassion”. He ordered hospitals to review night-time ward transfers and stop all but the essential.
Dr Mike Smith, chairman of the Patients Association, said: “They have got people in A&E lying in corridors, they have got to be admitted and they have no beds. It’s for the convenience of staff and the person they are admitting but at the gross detriment to the person they are chucking out.”
NHS England said: “Discharging patients at night without appropriate support is unacceptable. The decision to do this should always be based on what is best for the patient
