Failings in care co-ordination for people with long-term conditions identified in HSSIB report
The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) has published a report entitled, ‘Workforce and patient safety: primary and community care co-ordination for people with long-term conditions’.
The report describes failures by NHS and care organisations to coordinate care for people with long-term health conditions, including dementia. Concerns documented include people struggling to navigate the health and care system, care being delayed or forgotten about resulting in people becoming more unwell and sometimes needing intensive hospital treatment, and patients and carers needing to retell their story multiple times to different professionals.
Neil Alexander, Senior Safety Investigator at the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), says:
“The stories and experiences shared with us provided powerful testimony as to the impact on people – patients and carers were open about their feelings of anguish and exhaustion, their anger, sadness and loss of trust in a system they felt sometimes was fighting against them. Many told of the frustration at not being able to speak to the specialist and dedicated staff who would be able to help them.
This is why our findings and recommendations are aimed at national organisations and the emphasis is to improve the capacity and capability of the workforce to deliver personalised, co-ordinated care. The administrative burden on patients, carers and staff would be reduced, but most importantly it will relieve the fear and anxiety at being left to cope alone without the right support.”
You can read the report here: https://www.hssib.org.uk/patient-safety-investigations/workforce-and-patient-safety/fourth-investigation-report/pdf/