'Bed-blocking' elderly patients could be EVICTED from hospital ward and face legal action

ELDERLY patients accused of so called 'bed-blocking' will be evicted from their hospital ward and face legal action if they do not leave within a week, it is reported.

An average hospital bed occupancy rate is 87.6 per cent – above the 85 per cent safe levelGETTY

An average hospital bed occupancy rate is 87.6 per cent – above the 85 per cent safe level

Managers at Royal Bournemouth Hospital have accused families of abandoning elderly relatives in NHS beds while they "decorate the house" or take a holiday.

In a last ditch attempt to alleviate huge pressures on bed space, the hospital trust is now threatening to take families to court if they do not find their relatives a care home within seven days.

Although managers did not comment, it is thought the trust could use anti-trespassing laws to evict patients.

Katie Whiteside, clinical manager for discharge at Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Trust, described it as a "last resort."

She told BBC Radio Solent: "We have relatives coming back telling us they don’t like the decor of care homes, or they don’t like the member of staff who met them at the door.

"Sometimes they are decorating the house or having a 'granny annexe' built and they know that, while the patients are here, they are being fed, watered and looked after."

The Bournemouth hospital said dozens of patients were medically fit to leave hospital, but did not want to do so. 

Pressure on NHS services is at a critical point and cracks are beginning to appear

Doctor Paul Flynn, chairman of the British Medical Association’s consultant committee

Ms Whiteside explained that one family had even asked the hospital to "keep hold" of a patient while they went on a two-week family holiday in Turkey. 

She added: "We would be in a position to commence formal proceedings to actually evict them from their beds if that was necessary. It would be an absolute last resort.

"If we had to go through the courts we would seek to recover costs [from relatives] of up to £50,000, so it’s serious stuff."

The revelation comes at a time when the NHS is said to be at a "critical point" and "cracks are beginning to appear".

Figures earlier this week showed that 'bed-blocking' had reached record levels, with doctors unable to discharge 1,000 patients every day.

NHS statistics released yesterday showed that an average hospital bed occupancy rate is 87.6 per cent – above the 85 per cent safe level. 

It is above 95 per cent at 13 trusts, including George Eliot, Warwickshire (98.3 per cent) and Mid Essex (97.7 per cent). 

So-called 'bed-blocking' has also been blamed for delays in Accident and Emergency departments across the country, which are said to be in "meltdown."

Doctor Paul Flynn, chairman of the British Medical Association’s consultant committee, told the Daily Mail: "Pressure on NHS services is at a critical point and cracks are beginning to appear. 

"While the NHS is used to seeing a spike in demand during winter months, this year emergency departments have experienced a spring, summer and autumn crisis as well, leaving no spare capacity in hospitals as we approach winter."

Labour's shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "The fact that hospitals were full to bursting over the summer will worry people about what lies ahead this winter.

"Social care in England is close to collapse and patients can’t be discharged home. In turn, soaring numbers are waiting on trolleys in the A&E department downstairs for a bed to become free."

A Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Trust spokesman added: "The idea of the Pan Dorset Managing Choice Policy is to ensure all patients who require care are in the most appropriate environment.

"Once medically fit for discharge, an acute hospital environment is not in the patient’s best interest.

"In terms of the 'seven-day action', we are asking that when patients and their representatives are given names of care homes from the hospital staff, for example, they view these homes and come to a decision within seven calendar days."

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