Bookmarkers beware: Bookmarks to pages other than the home page may not work after we change our server in April Editor's Choice | This Week in BMJ | Press releases BMJ No 7132 Volume 316 News Saturday 28 February 1998 Inquiry ordered into transfer of the frail elderly The transfer of frail elderly patients between hospitals and care homes in England may be stopped or severely restricted if the results of an investigation ordered by the health secretary, Frank Dobson, support his impression that too many old people die as a result of being moved. Mr Dobson told the Commons select committee on administration, which monitors the work of the health service ombudsman, that he has asked the NHS executive to provide evidence of the death rate among elderly people who are moved between institutions. His concern arises from a case in Winchester in which the closure of a hospital ward was brought forward. Several elderly patients were transferred from hospital to a nursing home, and three died within 22 days (BMJ22 March 1997, p 848). Before the committee last week Mr Dobson said that there was fairly clear evidence that a high proportion of frail elderly people die if they are moved. This holds true for any move, even from poor accommodation to better surroundings. The process is very harmful, and the conclusion I have drawn from this case is that I think the whole health service needs to look very carefully at the justification for moving anybody of that age and frailty, he added. Mr Dobson said he had asked officials for evidence that frail elderly people die after they are moved. The impression he got was that moving them was dangerous, no matter how well it was done. The number of deaths in these circumstances seemed to be very high, he said. He agreed with the committee chairman, Labour MP Rhodri Morgan, that 10% of elderly patients may die after transfer. However, he could currently not back this up with evidence and wanted to be very careful before he marched in and asked the NHS Executive to issue a circular based on his impression before he had the information. John Warden, parliamentary correspondent BMJ Home | Current issue | Past issues | Classified ads | Career Focus | Feedback Collections | About this site | About the BMJ | BMA | Medline