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 30 August 2008 16:36 BST

Hewitt: Get patients in on day of ops

Monday, 27 Mar 2006 14:56
Hewitt: Get patients in on day of ops

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Millions of pounds are being wasted by the NHS because of the number of patients who are not operated on soon after they arrive in hospital, the health secretary has said today.

Patricia Hewitt told the health service that £78 million could be saved if it called patients into hospital on the day of their operations and ensured they were fit for surgery before admission.

Hip operations are the cause of much of this wastage, with Department of Health research revealing that in 2004-05 some one million 'bed days' were used by patients admitted the day before they were due to have hip ops.

While the government accepts that sometimes such early admission is necessary, it is urging those NHS trusts that admit patients early to change their policies – and save 390,000 'bed days' every year, worth about £200 each to the NHS.

"Improved patient care and increased efficiency go hand-in-hand," Ms Hewitt said.

"Reducing the amount of time a patient spends in hospital is a good example. Admitting patients to beds...for non-clinical reasons before procedures wastes valuable hospital bed space and increases costs.

"Finding out the patient is unfit for surgery - which could have been established by a separate assessment before the operation - is another example of a wasted bed day."

The research, carried out by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, comes as the government faces renewed calls for action on the financially stricken health service.

A number of NHS trusts have recently announced staff cuts in an effort to save money as the NHS heads towards a record overspend and chancellor Gordon Brown faced criticism after his Budget announcement for apparently neglecting health in his package of funding measures.

Andrew Lansley, Conservative health spokesman, said last week: "One year ago ministers were heralding NHS staff as the heroes who were delivering on waiting list targets.

"Today they are silent as the same NHS staff are threatened with redundancy. Faced with the failure of his billions to deliver corresponding improvements for patients, Gordon Brown and the Treasury have abandoned the NHS."

Mr Brown defended the government's position by insisting that a package of support measures has already been provided for the NHS ahead of the Budget.track End of story


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