Madam, – One of the hardest tasks facing a GP is whether or not to send an elderly sick patient to hospital knowing that they need admission. The days of straight admission to hospital are gone and everybody must go through casualty and accept everything that goes with this, despite the best care of the dedicated staff.
It is bad enough to face a possible wait on a trolley for several days, stuck in a busy, noisy area 24/7, with lights on all the time, and with aggressive drunks or drug addicts – but when you are elderly and sick, this can be a frightening, confusing experience, possibly causing deterioration of your condition.
A lot of patients have told me they would rather take their chances and stay at home than face this, and who would blame them?
Is there an answer? I have always felt that we should take the lead from some other countries and have a separate casualty for our elderly patients, as their needs are totally different from the rest of the casualty population. While this in itself would not shorten admission time, they could be nursed initially in a quiet and restful area while waiting assessment. This financially might not be a popular decision with our paymasters, but there is not a family in the country who would disagree with me. Hospitals are supposed to mean healing, not endurance.
When would-be politicians come to the doorstep, readers can put this idea to them. – Yours, etc,