Hospital purgatory: The patients trapped in acute beds with nowhere else to goÂ
Geriatrician Dr Chloe Furst says older patients deserve to be in an appropriate aged care setting if appropriate.
Behind gridlocked EDs, ambulance ramping, angry patients, and frustrated doctors often lies a frail elderly patient stuck in the wrong kind of bed.
Dr Chloe Furst is a geriatrician and palliative care specialist, and she says hospital bed block is becoming worse and will not improve until more aged care places are created.
Her home state of SA has the lowest aged care vacancy rates in Australia. It is a place where more than 250 patients are currently in hospital because they are waiting for an aged care bed.
“It becomes a crisis. There’s recognition that this individual can no longer go home, which then starts a lengthy process of trying to find them an aged care bed,” she tells 6minutes.
