Dying patients are going without care in their own homes because of a collapse in community nursing services, new data shared with The Independent reveals. Across England a third of district nurses say they are now being forced to delay visits to terminal patients because of surging demand and a lack of staff. This is up from just 2 percent in 2015.
The situation means some patients may have to wait for essential care and pain medication to keep them comfortable. In an investigation into the service, more than half of district nurses said they no longer have the capacity to do patient assessments and psychological care.
Professor Alison Leary, director of the International Community Nursing Observatory, said her study showed the country was “sleepwalking into a disaster”. She said the situation was now so bad that nurses were being driven out of their jobs by what she called the “moral distress” at not being able to provide necessary care.
“People are at the end of their tether. District nurses are reporting having to defer work much more often than they did two years ago. What they are telling us is that the workload is too high. This is care that people don’t have time to do.”
This story is from the November 30, 2021 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the November 30, 2021 edition of The Independent.
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