24-Hour Dementia Care Units Under Fire - Demand Surges For Professional Home Care In Sydney

In a recent inquest, an Australian dementia charity has made some shocking discoveries.

Vising hospitals around the country, the inquest revealed a tumult of issues faced by dementia patients in 24 hour care. Sadly not limited to, these issues have included night falls, sudden and unexpected discharges and no-notice readmissions. The findings in this shocking report have likely been down to staff neglect.

Since the study’s release, there has been a surge in the requirement for home care in Sydney alone. Hospitals, unable to cope with the increasing levels of dementia patient’s year-on-year, are being urged to release annual statements on care levels, so future staff can be more prepared.

Summarised into concise statistics, the inquest’s main findings are as follows:

• In the lowest performing hospitals, patie

nts suffering from dementia stay nearly 7 times longer than the average over 65 patient

• 10% of overnight discharges were patients with dementia
• Over 50% of readmissions within 30 days were for dementia sufferers
• 25% of dangerous falls by over 65’s came from patients with dementia

The charity, shocked by the initial findings from their inquest into hospital staff, followed up with a questionnaire given to the patients. The results were just as startling. Reports began to flood in of hospital staff using excessive force, patients with restricted motor function being left to feed themselves and patients being left without aid for long periods of time in soiled bed sheets.

From the questionnaire, 90% of those surveyed reported findings hospitals seriously frightening, putting the effectiveness of 24-hour care into question. The charity commented on the results publicly, stating that they reflected a distinct and general lack of care and attention that the patients deserved as their basic human right.

Additionally, with only 2% of those surveyed feeling that the hospital staff fully understood their needs, the importance of further training for nurses has been highlighted as a strong priority.

Chief Executive of charity The Alzheimer’s Society has commented on the state of hospital treatment:

"in the worst cases, hospital care for people with dementia is like Russian Roulette. People with dementia and their carers have no way of knowing what’s going to happen to them when they are admitted."

With the lack of trust senior charity members are placing in the system, it’s clear to see why so many are opting for home care in Sydney.

"In many cases they are well looked after", Jeremy says, "but, as the investigation shows, too often people with dementia fall and injure themselves, get discharged at night or are marooned in hospital despite their medical treatment having finished".

With 1 in 4 hospital beds allegedly being occupied by a patient with dementia, the pressing need for 24-hour care and further training has become increasingly clear. With $50m in funding being released and an additional 500,000 staff pledging for further training, the situation will hopefully improve quickly.

Home Caring’s home care services are specialised in-home support for people living with dementia or disability.