NHS defends man’s nine-year stay in hospital (From Bury Times)

NHS defends man’s nine-year stay in hospital

9:00am Wednesday 24th March 2010

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A FAIRFIELD Hospital patient waited a staggering nine years to be discharged into a nursing home — then died just days later.

He was originally admitted to Fairfield on July 1, 1999, after apparently suffering a stroke.

But it was not until March 26, 2008, that he was eventually discharged into a nursing home.

Health bosses, who have labelled the incident as “exceptional”, say the case centred around the unnamed man’s family who did not want him to be discharged.

The Bury Times understands, however, that it was only in 2005 that his condition had improved to the degree he was well enough to leave the hospital, but he faced a further wait of three years.

A spokesman for the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Fairfield, said: “This was an exceptional case and one which was outwith the direct control of the trust, which provided the best possible care for the patient and did all in its power to effect an appropriate discharge.

“The reasons around this case were complex but centred around the patient’s family, who did not wish their relative to be discharged.

“They considered the care in Fairfield General Hospital to be excellent and went to great lengths to ensure his discharge could not take place.

“The trust is committed to reducing the number of patients who are delayed in hospital, even though they are medically fit to be discharged.”

A Bury Council spokesman said: “We were asked to find a place in a nursing home for this patient and we found numerous placements.

“We did everything within our control to ensure that this man was discharged to an appropriate setting to meet his needs.

“In Bury, we perform extremely well in relation to delayed hospital discharges.

“In fact, Bury is ranked as one of the top local authorities in the region in dealing with such matters.”

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