Bad Management At Eastbourne Hospital

There are times when I wonder how some NHS managers actually earn their substantial salaries.

For example, my mum was discharged from Eastbourne DGH on Monday because of a lack of beds.

On Sunday night, she was moved from Seaford ward to the private wing to free her bed up for a new patient. They tried to discharge her that day, but she wasn't well enough. The ward staff apologised but said they were under pressure from the bed manager to try to find patients who were fit enough to leave.

Without going into too much detail, the operation she had involved major surgery, meaning she'll be off work for several months, can't bend down and can't pick anything up. In this condition she's been discharged to look after herself at home. My dad isn't around all the time to help as he has to go to work.

The problem seems to stem from a large number of elderly people blocking beds as they should be moved to nursing or residential homes. The trust probably has itself to blame as it closed down All Saints Hospital that used to take a lot of these people in while long term care was found for them.

I see in the news today that money has now been found to ease the overcrowding (currently at 97% occupancy) after the trust blackmailed the county council by threatening to close the Accident & Emergency department and cancel operations.

I must stress that the medical staff at the hospital were really good, and were having to work under a lot of pressure because of the current situation.