Elderly patients who are stuck in hospital effectively age a decade in ten days, reports the Daily Mail. This is according to the new medical director of the UK’s National Health Service who has called for drastic health reforms.
Professor Stephen Powis said the biggest task facing the health service was to prevent unnecessary stays in hospital for pensioners by building community services. He said "trapping" vulnerable patients in unsuitable settings has a debilitating effect on long-term mobility and muscle mass.
Powis said pensioners who are stuck in hospital effectively age a decade in just ten days. He warned: “A person over 80 who spends ten days in hospital loses 10% of muscle mass – equivalent to ten years of ageing.”
And he is quoted in the report as saying that the National Health Service (NHS) must adapt to the needs of an ageing population set to suffer more chronic and incurable health issues. “There are half a million more people aged over 75 than in 2010 – and there will be 2m more in ten years time. They are also spending more years in ill-health.”
Powis said there must be fundamental changes to services to ensure the NHS supports the needs of individuals rather than “treating each body in isolation”.
The report says he welcomed commitments by UK Prime Minister Theresa May to increase long-term NHS funding in order to fix its problems permanently rather than simply papering over the cracks.
He said the NHS must adapt to the needs of an ageing population set to suffer more chronic and incurable health issues.
[link url="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5601483/A-ten-day-stay-hospital-make-elderly-patients-age-DECADE.html"]Daily Mail report[/link]