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NHS services for dying falling below standard says Lamb

Thu, 05 Nov 2009

“This is a shocking indictment of NHS services for those who are dying," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary.

Commenting on today’s report from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) which reveals 39% of patients who died within four days of admission to hospital received less than good care, Norman Lamb said:

“This is a shocking indictment of NHS services for those who are dying.
 
“It’s clear from this report that in far too many cases services fall way below the acceptable standards for this day and age.
 
“It’s of huge concern that so many of these patients are not being diagnosed as being close to death when they arrive in hospital.  We urgently need to look at the way that doctors are assessing patients.
 
“Ministers cannot escape the fact that after twelve years in power such poor standards of care still exist.
 
“Rather than forcing doctors and nurses to jump through hoops to meet Government targets, we should be giving them time to treat every patient with the dignity they deserve.”