Social Work Staffing Crisis Strands Elderly In Hospital

A social work staffing crisis has led to some elderly patients being kept at a Fife hospital for weeks longer than is necessary. The situation was highlighted by the son of 85-year-old Thornton woman Margaret Walker who has been stuck in Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital for more than a month as she waits to be assessed for care.

Andy Walker said: “Mum was discharged from the Victoria five weeks ago after treatment for liver and kidney problems, much against the wishes of myself and my brother Frank. Within a day she had fallen and broken a bone in her leg, and after an operation at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline, was taken back to the Victoria.

“Mum was seen by an occupational therapist there and the opinion was that she needs to go into a home. We understood that the assessment for this should happen within five days, but she’s still there in the ward after more than a month. We keep being told that that she will be moved, but nothing is happening.

“Apparently the problem is being caused by a shortage of staff in the social work discharge team which carries out the assessments. We were told that there should be five people, but three have left and there’s a big backlog.”

He added, “All this waiting has had quite an effect on our mother. She’s gone downhill quite a bit and is currently on anti-depressants, but we’ve not even been given a date when the assessment will be carried out.”

Rona Laing, senior manager, with Fife’s social work services, said, “We regret the current situation and we are taking steps to address the temporary staffing issues. We are doing everything we can to ensure that patients continue to be discharged from hospital as quickly as possible and are working very closely with NHS Fife to ensure that patients are not delayed unnecessarily.

“At certain times of the year demand is high and there are some patients who may not leave hospital as quickly as we would like. We recognise this can be distressing for them and their families but we are making every effort to get assessments done as quickly as possible.”

She said that the Scottish Executive target is that assessment and discharge should be completed within six weeks and added, “For the majority of people we achieve this target.”

A spokesperson for NHS Fife said, “We work closely with the social work department to ensure that people are cared for in the most appropriate setting as quickly as possible.”