Patients ‘treated in corridors’, claims Royal College of Nursing

May 13, 2012 Carers, hospital, Older care

‘Huge stress’

By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Hospitals are expected to see patients within 18 weeks in England

Patients are being left stranded on trolleys for hours and forced to have treatment in corridors due in part to the loss of hospital beds, nurses say.

The Royal College of Nursing says feedback from more than 1,200 staff paints a “worrying picture”, with patients regularly being in ambulances or held in a queue.

The union warned the NHS risked going backwards unless ministers got a grip.

The government said there were enough beds for this not to be happening.

Of the 1,246 nurses and healthcare assistants who replied to an RCN request for feedback, a fifth said providing care in corridors had become a daily occurrence.

Councils are facing a very tough decision

May 11, 2012 Carers, disability, ukcuts

Councils are facing very tough decisions

Posted by:

Ruth Keeling

11 May, 2012

Local government insiders have described the government’s welfare reforms as a “time bomb” for local government, and in recent weeks you may have heard a whispered countdown.

There was news that London councils were preparing to move people on their housing lists to houses many miles away because the cap on housing benefit will be insufficient to meet the rent demands of private sector landlords.

The Department for Work & Pensions also published details of what it wants from councils wishing to pilot face-to-face support work for benefit claimants moving to the new Universal Credit, including a challenging timetable and ducking the question of how or whether local government would be involved or funded in the long term.