NHS - plan to pay untrained people to care for surgical patients

The care rooms idea assumes all the patients involved are elderly and frail.

What about all the others? DD was 40 when she had her accident. I do not think she would have been happy to be, even temporarily, in a care home. She spent 10 days in hospital. Most of the time her room mates were the ill elderly with dementia who cried out at night and stopped her sleeping- and anyway who in the care home would have taken her to the hospital every day for her special dressings?

Not everyone in hospital is old and many of those who are do not have dementia. A convalescent facility is needed for the younger patients and the mentally fit and simply convalescent elderly as well.

Ah well, Southend hospitals have said they're not going ahead with this plan.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-41763730

Can't wait for the next stupid plan from Hunt et al.

U-turns are getting quicker, too.

Was this a Hunt plan?
I can't work out who thought of this, apart from the people who are listed as directors of the company.

If someone is well enough to move to AirBNB accommodation with someone (anyone?) providing three microwave meals a day and regular hydration, they are probably well enough to receive the three microwave meals and hydration in the comfort of their own home

I agree with DJ and Monica and I can think of nothing worse than 3 microwave meals a day. What on earth?

Someone has seen an opportunity to make money and the actual care side of the plan is very weak. I read 'no special qualifications needed' and the alarm bells were ringing. I imagine some people with a spare room were already contemplating how much they could rake in.

Anyway as others have said, if patients are well enough for that type of care, they're well enough for the same kind of support in their own home, with their own things around them and friends and neighbours popping in.

It's clearly a scheme devised by people who know damn fine it's not the kind of provision they're ever likely to need.

I think the scheme has mileage but the profits for the bosses are going to be large, given a host, paid 'up to' £50 per night, has to be, well basically, an auxiliary nurse come cleaner, washerwoman, cook and companion - and will be alerted to emergencies both day and night, so possibly having to be 'alert' 24/7

I'd want more than £50 a night for doing all that...and of course it would involve wear and tear on the house too.

Imagine if a patient had an accident, maybe an incontinence issue in bed. Would a 'carer' be alerted at, say, 2am to change the bedding and clean up the patient?

It sounds like a good idea but I imagine the host would be 'on call' all the time. Running a Bed and Breakfast establishment would be easier - and more lucrative!

From the site. :

What do I need to provide?

The host will need to provide the following; bed, bedding, cleaning, laundry for bed linen, three meals a day, drinks and a welcome smile.

Do I need to wash the bedding and clean the room?

Yes, CareRooms will provide the host with necessary training on how to clean the room and wash the bedding, which needs to be provided for each new patient’s arrival.

What equipment do you provide?

CareRooms will provide equipment such as mobility aids, hand rails and raised chairs and then add on any specialist equipment relevant to each individual patient when needed.

What checks will I need to complete?

Your DBS check, food safety, hygiene, provide current insurance certificate, proof of home ownership, approval from mortgage lender and an in person visit with the Regional Manager.

Will I get training?

Yes, you will be provided with all the necessary FREE training to be a host.

I skimmed through the site and I think I read that the patient has to apply 'rent' a bed, so do they pay for their care? Presumably the NHS has to pay? Can't be bothered going back to check.

Someone correct me if I am wrong please.

It's sounding more and more like a get-rich-quick scheme for the founders.

UCH in London already use the hotel across the road. A member of our family was undergoing cancer treatment and needed daily infusions so he and his mother were lodged in the hotel going across the road every morning for the procedure.

Whatever happened to Convalescent Homes?

Humbertbear I hope your family member makes a full recovery. Thanks for enlightening us about hospitals using hotels already - it's quite easy to see now how a doctor would say 'let's have our own Airbnb' instead as it will save money.

Just another way of seeming saving spending money on the NHS while that same money is still spent but goes elsewhere.

The NHS did have patient hotels! They were called "convalescent/nursing homes". I read this as being for those patients who are FIT to go home, but can't as there is no-one else at home....so used in the right way...not a bad idea. Would like to make sure that the "hosts" of said homes are properly CRB checked and that their motives are in the right place.

A big no at such a suggestion of the NHS 'rent a room' idea.
It is not uncommon to hear of abuse of the vulnerable and as we had been having treatment in hospital which warranted this after care then it is unlikely we would be feeling full of the joys of spring.
My instant thoughts would be 'what if'?

I think it's a great idea. Common sense and life experience is never valued. How intelligent do you have to be to do most things. Everything you want to do has copious requests and hoops to go through just because a tiny number are devious and mean and they still seem to get through all the vetting. As long as there are a few checks. That is face to face meetings not tick boxes. There are a lot decent people out there who would do an amazing job and earn some money. I find the barriers to even volunteer work or a job are awful. What happen is a computer looks at the forms and puts you on the yes no pile by searches. Let's get back to our natural instincts and weight people up and monitor them. Even with all these checks by HR still they employed crap people!

The 'care rooms' idea sounds crazy to me, good thing that it's been ditched. The potential problems are huge, the safety of the 'guests' should be paramount but can't possibly be guaranteed in such a situation. Medical emergency, assault, theft, etc the list is endless. Turn the situation around and it's possible the host could be sued for whatever goes wrong! It's a terrible idea, good job it's been dropped.

Another way of paying our bedroom tax?

...or just a better use of scarce resources.

I recall many many years ago my mil having a hysterectomy and twenty four hours after this op she was transferred to a ' Cottage' hospital where she would receive the necessary after care given to patients having had major ops or other treatments a fully equipped hospital gave This was until a doctor considered the patient could go home. It was not a convalescent home and they did not do ops or emergency admissions all though they did have a minor injuries section. Unfortunately this hospital was later to come under the NHS ' superfluous to requirements'.

My husband sent out after surgery far too early. Started hallucinating and doing dangerous things, climbing up furniture with a newly replaced hip, talking to folk he only could see. Back in hospital sent by ambulance to gp. In a full week very ill, sent home still hallucinating. I was scared stiff .

Bring back convalescent homes! They did the job, and freed up the hospitals for those who needed hospital treatment.

How odd that as a society we think nothing of whisking children away at a moment's notice and putting them in a strange person's home but we think it is a terrible idea for older people. Surely with good training and the right people, it will be a far more personal service than lying in hospital where beds are needed. There should be an accreditation service so 'patients' can give ratings to those in charge of the service so we know where the best places are. It won't suit everyone but neither do Convalescent Homes.
My Grandad went to a Convalescent home for a week. It was expensive and terrible; he never forgave me for not being able to take him home with me. His teeth got lost, he ended up wearing someone else, the regime was rigid and he hated every minute of it. He decided he'd sooner die than enter a care home if that was what he had to look forward to.

When my beloved late father was recovering from major cancer surgery back in the 1970's there were convalescent homes and he was in one for 3 months, Athlone House in Hampstead, so that he could learn to care for his needs and also feel secure because there was always someone on hand to talk to and advise. I think it's disgraceful that these homes were got rid of as a cost cutting exercise. When I had major surgery several years ago when my children were young my G.P. said I needed to recuperate in one, but the Gov. of the day had decided they were no longer necessary. So now they've put the light back on and are realising it wasn't so money saving after all because of the costs of bed blocking etc. for patients who are well enough to leave hospital but not well enough to be home yet and still need some nursing support.

Patients convalescing need something more nutritious than microwave meals, why they need special care in that time after surgery/illness. The fact microwave meals were mentioned showed this was supposed to attract those who are looking for ways to make fast money with the least effort. £50 a day will not attract ppl with TIME to care for sick ppl who will likely need 24 hour supervision.
There is already concern about financial abuse of elderly/disabled and sick and this opens up too many opportunities for the wrong ppl to offer to let rooms. A police check does not cover integrity.

www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2017/10/26/paying-people-to-house-nhs-patients-is-not-a-solution-to-our

Norman Lamb on the idea.

icanhandthemback, No, it is the right solution for the right situation. For children it is better to be in a family home than living in an institutional setting. Accepting that the ideal situation is to be with their parents and not need care.

When you are elderly and ill, the converse is true. Better to be in a small institutional setting, like a convalescent home, where trained carers can look after your personal needs and your medical condition can be monitored and specialist help brought in if needed.

It is not a question of age it is a question of medical need.