Unnecessary hospital visits are common in the U.S. as well. It sounds like the UK has a solid plan to help alleviate the problem. The funding given to the community to help elderly patients and take better care of them will hopefully help resolve the issue. That way they will be able to be kept well at home instead of going to the hospital for something minor. The advances in medicine have definitely helped free up beds and kept people in hospitals for less time. Although there are still beds open for emergencies, there are not as many as the UK would life. The patients who do not really need to be in hospital beds need to be treated and released in a more timely manner I believe. The other problem with the hospitals being too full is the hospital staff being overworked (similar to the blog about doctors facing burnout). The quality of care then goes down because nurses and doctors are working too much. I agree that the patients are actually the ones suffering because of how overcrowded the hospitals are.
The problems in the U.K. health care system sound very similar to those faced in the U.S. Inadequate staffing, funding, and unnecessary visits all play a role in straining the ability of the health care system to provide for all individuals. Hospital care in the U.S and U.K. are similar in the fact that they primarily offer secondary care. Secondary care treats the medical issue at hand. For example if one has pneumonia they are admitted to directly treat the pneumonia. This method causes extended stays in the hospital and increased severity of the patient. One solution to reducing this strain as suggested in the article was "investing in community services to take the strain off hospitals." This emphasis on community treatment represents primary health care. Primary health care is a preventive system which emphasizes the use of primary care physicians to evaluate potential health risks for individuals without requiring a hospital setting. This aims to reduce the severity of issues before it progresses to the degree where in-hospital treatment is required.
In the U.K. hospitals are designed to successfully be ran at 85% capacity. However, lately these hospitals have been at an average of 88%-90% capacity. This is a problem because many believe that patient care is suffering significantly because of the overcrowding. It is leading to a high infection rate that cannot be controlled and admission/discharge management being strained, on top of other issues arising. One solution idea, is to eliminate patients who can and should be cared for in smaller community health care facilities; such as those with asthma. This will free up beds and allow physicians to properly take care of patients and control infections more successfully. Overall, in order to start cutting down complaints of poor treatment and the overcrowding of hospitals, they must take quick steps to successfully eliminate these problems.
The issue in the U.K. of hospitals being too full is a common one that can put patients more at risk. It is important to get this problem under control so that patients are able to receive the best care possible. There are many different approaches that can be made to help resolve this problem, but I think the most beneficial one is establishing more community based care centers. These centers will allow for people with less serious conditions to be taken care of without taking up space and resources in the hospital. This will allow the nurses in the hospitals to provide better care for the more critical patient. Lowering the amount of unnecessary admissions will not only free up space in hospitals, but it will also allow there to a better patient-nurse ratio and will lower the amount of money used on these patients. There are many benefits that would result in fixing this issue.
I agree here with Emily, Evan, and Hailey. This article sounds very close to what is happening in the US. Many people go to the hospital, especially the emergency room for treatment instead of using a primary care physician. The hospital can not deny care to the patient. Therefore, even if someone comes in with a common cold they can be admitted and take up a hospital bed. Hospitals are being filled up "almost to a bursting point" and there is not enough staff to give the patients the care that they need. The article states that more people need to use community facilities for less serious conditions and for preventative care. This will relieve the hospitals of the less serious illness and let them offer better care to those who truly need it. However, in the US many people without health insurance are using the hospital as a free clinic so unless laws are changed I don't see how things could be changed. But that also leads to how can we deny care to a patient? Should they not be treated anywhere, because they don't have insurance? (Gina Heim)
I agree with everyone that this also seems to be happening here in the us. I also think that it is very dangerous for hospitals to be stressed like this. With this stress like this on the hospital like the artical said more people are going to get poor help because people are stressed and overwhelmed with the number of people. I think that the hospital are getting filled like Gina said with people who are using the hospital for things that most people would go to a primary care doctor for but since they don't have healthcare or insurance they cannot afford to have one. This is packing emergency rooms with non emergent people and filling beds unnessarily.
I think the issue of the overfilling of hospitals goes hand-in-hand with the issue of euthanasia and life support in hospitals. One reason that hospitals are often crowded is that there are so many patients that are facing a virtually certain death, but are being kept alive by relatives who are unwilling to give up hope. Does this mean that medical staff should urge families to let their loved ones die in order to make room for patients that need urgent medical attention? For me, the answer to this question is no. My past experiences are definitely an influence in my viewpoint on this topic; my younger sister recently spent a week in the ICU after being diagnosed with an infection, and came very close to death. During the time I spent in the hospital, I saw how doctors and nurses gave her the attention she needed, and went above and beyond their duty to make sure she was receiving the proper care. Although this may not be true for every hospital, but the doctors were never inattentive or distracted the entire time she was there, and this was true no matter what was going on in other sections of the ICU. The point is, even if the hospital is crowded, the proper attention will be given to those who need it most. For patients that weren't facing the immediate threat of death, this was not true. Once my sister became well and wasn't at risk for death, they moved her out of the ICU and into a normal room. This portion of the hospital WAS crowded, and almost no medical attention was given to her while she was there. They also released her before she was fully recovered to make room for more patients. If her infection had suddenly gotten worse again, I believe there was a very real possibility she could have died because she wasn't receiving the proper attention. I think if overcrowded hospitals such as NHS want to improve their medical care, they should pay more attention to those who aren't facing the immediate threat of death, especially those who are recovering from serious illnesses. I think if hospitals could do this properly, there would not be a need to expand or build new hospitals in most cases. However, in all cases, there should be an adequate amount of medical staff on hand in case of a sudden overfilling of the hospital. If doctors and nurses don't have to attend to a large number of patients, they can focus more on the patients that they do have, and there will be less mistakes and accidents.
Unnecessary hospital visits are common in the U.S. as well. It sounds like the UK has a solid plan to help alleviate the problem. The funding given to the community to help elderly patients and take better care of them will hopefully help resolve the issue. That way they will be able to be kept well at home instead of going to the hospital for something minor. The advances in medicine have definitely helped free up beds and kept people in hospitals for less time. Although there are still beds open for emergencies, there are not as many as the UK would life. The patients who do not really need to be in hospital beds need to be treated and released in a more timely manner I believe. The other problem with the hospitals being too full is the hospital staff being overworked (similar to the blog about doctors facing burnout). The quality of care then goes down because nurses and doctors are working too much. I agree that the patients are actually the ones suffering because of how overcrowded the hospitals are.
ReplyDeleteThe problems in the U.K. health care system sound very similar to those faced in the U.S. Inadequate staffing, funding, and unnecessary visits all play a role in straining the ability of the health care system to provide for all individuals. Hospital care in the U.S and U.K. are similar in the fact that they primarily offer secondary care. Secondary care treats the medical issue at hand. For example if one has pneumonia they are admitted to directly treat the pneumonia. This method causes extended stays in the hospital and increased severity of the patient. One solution to reducing this strain as suggested in the article was "investing in community services to take the strain off hospitals." This emphasis on community treatment represents primary health care. Primary health care is a preventive system which emphasizes the use of primary care physicians to evaluate potential health risks for individuals without requiring a hospital setting. This aims to reduce the severity of issues before it progresses to the degree where in-hospital treatment is required.
ReplyDeleteIn the U.K. hospitals are designed to successfully be ran at 85% capacity. However, lately these hospitals have been at an average of 88%-90% capacity. This is a problem because many believe that patient care is suffering significantly because of the overcrowding. It is leading to a high infection rate that cannot be controlled and admission/discharge management being strained, on top of other issues arising. One solution idea, is to eliminate patients who can and should be cared for in smaller community health care facilities; such as those with asthma. This will free up beds and allow physicians to properly take care of patients and control infections more successfully. Overall, in order to start cutting down complaints of poor treatment and the overcrowding of hospitals, they must take quick steps to successfully eliminate these problems.
ReplyDeleteThe issue in the U.K. of hospitals being too full is a common one that can put patients more at risk. It is important to get this problem under control so that patients are able to receive the best care possible. There are many different approaches that can be made to help resolve this problem, but I think the most beneficial one is establishing more community based care centers. These centers will allow for people with less serious conditions to be taken care of without taking up space and resources in the hospital. This will allow the nurses in the hospitals to provide better care for the more critical patient. Lowering the amount of unnecessary admissions will not only free up space in hospitals, but it will also allow there to a better patient-nurse ratio and will lower the amount of money used on these patients. There are many benefits that would result in fixing this issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree here with Emily, Evan, and Hailey. This article sounds very close to what is happening in the US. Many people go to the hospital, especially the emergency room for treatment instead of using a primary care physician. The hospital can not deny care to the patient. Therefore, even if someone comes in with a common cold they can be admitted and take up a hospital bed. Hospitals are being filled up "almost to a bursting point" and there is not enough staff to give the patients the care that they need. The article states that more people need to use community facilities for less serious conditions and for preventative care. This will relieve the hospitals of the less serious illness and let them offer better care to those who truly need it. However, in the US many people without health insurance are using the hospital as a free clinic so unless laws are changed I don't see how things could be changed. But that also leads to how can we deny care to a patient? Should they not be treated anywhere, because they don't have insurance? (Gina Heim)
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone that this also seems to be happening here in the us. I also think that it is very dangerous for hospitals to be stressed like this. With this stress like this on the hospital like the artical said more people are going to get poor help because people are stressed and overwhelmed with the number of people. I think that the hospital are getting filled like Gina said with people who are using the hospital for things that most people would go to a primary care doctor for but since they don't have healthcare or insurance they cannot afford to have one. This is packing emergency rooms with non emergent people and filling beds unnessarily.
ReplyDeleteI think the issue of the overfilling of hospitals goes hand-in-hand with the issue of euthanasia and life support in hospitals. One reason that hospitals are often crowded is that there are so many patients that are facing a virtually certain death, but are being kept alive by relatives who are unwilling to give up hope. Does this mean that medical staff should urge families to let their loved ones die in order to make room for patients that need urgent medical attention? For me, the answer to this question is no. My past experiences are definitely an influence in my viewpoint on this topic; my younger sister recently spent a week in the ICU after being diagnosed with an infection, and came very close to death. During the time I spent in the hospital, I saw how doctors and nurses gave her the attention she needed, and went above and beyond their duty to make sure she was receiving the proper care. Although this may not be true for every hospital, but the doctors were never inattentive or distracted the entire time she was there, and this was true no matter what was going on in other sections of the ICU. The point is, even if the hospital is crowded, the proper attention will be given to those who need it most. For patients that weren't facing the immediate threat of death, this was not true. Once my sister became well and wasn't at risk for death, they moved her out of the ICU and into a normal room. This portion of the hospital WAS crowded, and almost no medical attention was given to her while she was there. They also released her before she was fully recovered to make room for more patients. If her infection had suddenly gotten worse again, I believe there was a very real possibility she could have died because she wasn't receiving the proper attention. I think if overcrowded hospitals such as NHS want to improve their medical care, they should pay more attention to those who aren't facing the immediate threat of death, especially those who are recovering from serious illnesses. I think if hospitals could do this properly, there would not be a need to expand or build new hospitals in most cases. However, in all cases, there should be an adequate amount of medical staff on hand in case of a sudden overfilling of the hospital. If doctors and nurses don't have to attend to a large number of patients, they can focus more on the patients that they do have, and there will be less mistakes and accidents.
ReplyDeleteFriendly and quick. For a person who hated going to the dentist I am not dreading my next cleaning!
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