While I agree with everything Dr Katherine Henderson says (‘For staff, this is heartbreaking’: senior doctor’s view on crisis in urgent care, 10 April), and particularly the need for long-term workforce planning and an increase in bed capacity, I would add that we need to bring back convalescence homes/hospitals to enable people to be discharged from acute wards.
Going straight back home is not the answer even if there is sufficient domiciliary care for those needing it, as time is required for families to get organised with regard to care arrangements. This would also give multidisciplinary teams time to make assessments, as many older people admitted for acute emergency care have complex needs. From my recent experience, an NHS-funded rehabilitation bed in an elderly persons’ care home is not the answer, although it seems to be the current method of dealing with “bed blockers”.
The solution offered is to be bedridden in your own home with three visits a day from care workers. Surely we can do better than that in an environment where a holistic approach to assessing someone’s needs occurs and relevant treatment is provided? It takes time to recover from a medical emergency.
Joy McLaughlan
London
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.
