Patients in NI dying in hospital while waiting to be discharged due to lack of community care packages, national charity unveils

More than 200 patients died in Northern Ireland’s hospitals in 2017-18 while waiting to be discharged, Marie Curie has revealed.

The terminal illness charity has released a report that shows discharge delays resulted in patients spending thousands of extra days in hospital beds every month after being declared ready to leave, with some dying while waiting to be discharged.

The report revealed:

• 204 patients with a range of conditions died in hospital in 2017-18 while waiting to be discharged in the Belfast, South Eastern, Southern, Northern and Western Trusts.
• 46,148 hospital bed days were wasted across the health service because of delayed discharges – averaging more than 3,800 delayed days per month.

Marie Curie found that shortages in community care packages and care home spaces were among the main reasons behind the delayed discharges. It highlights that for those patients who have a terminal illness, being stuck in hospital when they would rather be cared for at home or in the community can have a huge impact on their quality of life.

This information also corresponds with the charity’s recent research highlighting that patients in England spent millions of unnecessary days in hospital in 2018 due to a shortage of care home and nursing home places and a lack of home care packages.

Joan McEwan, Head of Policy and Public Affairs for Marie Curie Northern Ireland, said: “The local population is getting older and we’re seeing more and more people living with terminal illnesses and complex needs. Not only is this resulting in greater numbers of hospital admissions, it is also putting massive additional pressure on community care, which is vital in helping the safe and prompt discharge of patients back home.

“Most terminally ill people want to spend the time they have left being cared for at home or in the community. It is unacceptable that pressures in community care and challenges such as delays in getting equipment or making adaptations are preventing this from happening.

“These patients are uniquely impacted by delayed discharges from hospital because time is a luxury they don’t have. When you are approaching the end of your life, every minute matters, and being kept in hospital may deprive someone of precious time with loved ones in the place of their choice during their final days and weeks.

“In the years ahead, Northern Ireland’s population is predicted to keep getting older and, unfortunately, sicker, so urgent solutions are required if we want to prevent even more vulnerable patients being stuck in hospital beds when they shouldn’t be.”

The report shows that the biggest contributing factor to the discharge delays was lack of domiciliary care packages, which accounted for nearly 13,000 delayed bed days across the health service in 2017-18. Hospital care planning issues also accounted for over 10,000 delayed days, while shortage of care home beds resulted in 7,775 delayed days.

Marie Curie has called for the return of the political institutions in Northern Ireland so that the major systemic challenges facing the health service can be addressed and for Stormont officials to scope out new funding measures for adult social care, as well as the introduction of longer-term budgets for Health Trusts.