Older people and the "patient centred" NHS: Prioritisation will be for financial reasons rather than by need

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7435.350-a

BMJ 2004;328:350 (7 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7435.350-a

Letter

Older people and the "patient centred" NHS

Prioritisation will be for financial reasons rather than by need

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Rowland and Pollock discuss many of the problemsand inequities of the Community Care (Delayed Discharges) Act.¹They do not mention that inpatients under the care of a psychiatristhave been specifically excluded, although most psychiatric inpatientsalso occupy acute beds which in many places are in short supply.

My service has always had an excellent working relationshipwith the local social services department, and I have foundthat delayed discharges are usually due to shortages in staffingand resources and not laziness or incompetence.

It seems now that people will have to be prioritised for servicesfor financial reasons and not on the basis of need. People livingin the community will become a lower priority, with psychiatricinpatients the lowest priority of all. The government does notseem to regard the blocking of psychiatric acute beds as a problem.

This legislation may also be counterproductive to . . . [Full text of this article]

Gillian E Moss, consultant in old age psychiatry

Meadowbrook, Salford M6 8DD gmoss@meadowbrook.bstmhp.nhs.uk

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