NHS England and the Health Foundation conducted a joint initiative and found that nearly half of emergency hospital admissions from care homes could be avoided. Primary causes of admissions of the elderly residents include chest infections, pressure sores and urinary tract infections.
The Royal College of Nursing claim that staff are often left with no choice but to call an ambulance when a resident is injured or ill, as they are advised to do this by NHS 111 or managers.
The RCN Head of Nursing Practice, Wendy Preston, said: “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.”
Full story in Nursing Notes, 25 July 2019