As a patient one thing that any of us may like to be assured of in a hospital is having someone around in the hour of need. But it seems it maybe asking for too much if one happens to be in a British hospital.
A major study has revealed that at least three out of four nurses in Britain's hospitals don't have adequate time to even talk to patients. A quarter admit that too many under their care have serious falls, develop bedsores or are mistakenly given the wrong dose of drugs, the Daily Mail reports.
Results of the survey involving 3,000 nurses by researchers at Kings College London
will prompt further alarm over the standards of care on some National Health Service (NHS) wards.
The Care Quality Commission, a non-departmental public body of the UK government meant to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England, has warned that one in five hospitals is neglecting the elderly to such an extent that they were breaking the law.
Inspectors' of the watchdog noticed patients in some of the wards rattling their bedrails or banging on water jugs to draw nurses' attention.
The report warned that some hospitals were putting paperwork over people with patients being left for over 10 hours without a drink.
A study involving 2,943 nurses seen by the Mail found that 76 percent did not have enough time to talk to or comfort patients. There was an absence of humanity and nurses would have no way of knowing how patients felt or whether they needed anything, said researchers.
The Kings College poll, which was carried out at 31 NHS trusts across England, found that 40 percent of staff were too busy to carry out necessary checks on patients such as taking their temperature.
Thirty-nine percent admitted they did not have enough time to record details about patient care such as whether they had been given anything to eat or drink.
Twenty-six percent said they were too busy to administer drugs on time.