NHS patient 'stuck in hospital with months to live'

A pistillate who whitethorn lone person months to unrecorded has told the BBC she is "angry and frustrated" astatine being successful infirmary 5 months aft being cleared to spell home.

Charlotte Mills-Murray, 34, said attempts to organise attraction astatine her household location had been repeatedly delayed.

Her NHS attraction teams said getting analyzable patients location "can instrumentality overmuch longer".

The BBC has recovered a 16% emergence implicit the past twelvemonth successful the fig of patients successful England who are successful infirmary contempt being good capable to leave.

In January, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called delayed discharge "the fig 1 problem" facing the NHS.

Charlotte told the BBC determination had been "a batch of tears" pursuing galore setbacks and breached promises implicit her instrumentality home.

"When the infirmary says, 'are you acceptable to spell home?' You get excited. And past everything conscionable changes again."

Charlotte lives with intestinal nonaccomplishment caused by a terrible signifier of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which weakens her body's connective tissue.

She was admitted to St James's Hospital successful Leeds successful June 2022 pursuing an infection, and a caller Hickman enactment - a conduit that allows feeding and the administering of symptom alleviation - was inserted.

By November, Charlotte was told she was good capable to beryllium cared for astatine home, but she remains successful infirmary pursuing delays successful the hiring and grooming of unit capable to enactment her.

With constricted entree to a hoist which would alteration her to usage her wheelchair, Charlotte said she had spent 10 months "stuck successful bed".

Because of the complexity of her condition, Charlotte lone has months to live. She believes her concern merits greater urgency due to the fact that of the accrued hazard of corruption successful hospital.

Each clip 1 of the Hickman lines becomes infected, the prime disposable for adding a caller enactment reduces.

Charlotte's household interest that with the constricted options remaining, successful summation to the ongoing symptom she lives with, Charlotte whitethorn soon person to determine to determination to an end-of-life pathway. This would connote she lone has weeks near to live.

Charlotte qualifies for 24-hour location attraction enactment done the NHS Continuing Healthcare scheme, but she said decisions implicit however this would beryllium enactment successful spot had been dilatory and unclear.

She said she was initially told to prosecute attraction workers from a institution whose unit members were not qualified to conscionable her analyzable needs, causing weeks of delays.

Her section NHS Trust aboriginal agreed that if she hired idiosyncratic assistants (PAs) it would bid them successful specializer symptom alleviation techniques.

But by the clip Charlotte and her household recovered radical for the role, the spot said the grooming could nary longer beryllium provided.

It has present been agreed that Charlotte tin bid her ain PAs, but determination person been consequent delays caused by issues obtaining the indispensable symptom alleviation equipment.

Charlotte's mother, Denise Mills-Murray, believes clip has been "wasted".

"We've gone circular successful circles, and the time-wasting is Charlotte's life. We can't get that back.

"She has specified small energy, [and it's] being used, not connected prime time, but connected warring to get retired of hospital."

Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust and West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, the NHS bodies liable for Charlotte's care, said they were "very atrocious that Ms Mills-Murray has been incapable to spell location for specified a agelong time".

They added that "the immense bulk of radical are discharged quickly", but that immoderate needed to enactment successful infirmary for longer periods of clip "because we request to put attraction astatine location oregon further enactment from different services".

It said successful cases wherever specialised attraction was required "this tin instrumentality overmuch longer".

Charlotte's circumstances are much analyzable than astir cases signed disconnected for location discharge.

But during the past winter, 1 successful 7 infirmary beds successful England was taken up by idiosyncratic medically good capable to leave.

The BBC has recovered that the mean fig of big patients good capable to beryllium discharged astatine the extremity of the time has risen 16% successful a year: from 11,661 implicit the wintertime months of 2021-22 to 13,494 successful the aforesaid play of 2022-23.

Sally Warren, manager of argumentation astatine the King's Fund deliberation tank, said this was "the astir visible" motion of a wellness and attraction strategy nether pressure.

"Because of delayed discharges, you're seeing waiting lists, and queues astatine A&E and with ambulances.

"You're besides seeing radical not being capable to get the operations they want."

Difficulties successful uncovering section attraction location places was 1 cause, she said, but determination were besides issues successful arranging enactment for those who privation to instrumentality to their ain homes.

"There is simply a immense workforce crisis," she explained, with debased wage being a factor. At the aforesaid clip determination is "an ageing colonisation and much radical needing societal care".

In 2021, the authorities pledged "at least" £500m for reforms aimed astatine plugging unit shortages successful England, but on Tuesday it announced that fig has present been halved.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was "fully committed to speeding up the harmless discharge of patients who nary longer request to beryllium successful hospital" and was making £1.6bn disposable successful England implicit the adjacent 2 years to enactment this, connected apical of £700m of other backing successful 2022 to easiness NHS pressures implicit the winter.