A BBC PANORAMA programme that showed how hospital care could fail the elderly was a “catalyst” for looking at what goes on in Tayside, writes Marjory Inglis, health reporter.

The programme Seriously Failing The Elderly, when covert filming showed what was going on in some hospitals in England, was screened in July and seriously shocked those who watched it, including staff working for NHS Tayside.

In her final report to NHS Tayside’s quality and clinical governance committee, meeting in Kings Cross, Dundee, yesterday, retiring director of nursing Lesley Summerhill said the TV report highlighted how things could go wrong, even in a modern hospital environment. She said it “acted as a catalyst to review current practice,” was shown to senior nurses and Dundee University staff and it was now recommended that other staff, particularly senior charge nurses, be shown the programme and their views sought.

She said “observational studies” had been carried out, involving a team watching what goes on in a ward 24 hours a day, seven days a week, studying the workload and care provided in the scrutinised wards.

“These studies have resulted in many instances to changes in skill mix, redesign of the ward and changes to clinical practice,” said Mrs Summerhill.

She said there were plans for senior managers to visit elderly people once they had been discharged from hospital and get their views of that experience and how it could be improved.

She said the acute services division recognised the “many challenges” faced in providing “safe, caring and effective services for elderly patients.” Evidence had shown any “deficiency” in care was “not deliberate but more a result of pressures in the system.”

She said an action plan was being developed and finalised and identified the risks of not taking forward the action plan as potentially resulting in:

* Increased risk to elderly patient safety.

* Reduction in quality and effectiveness of care.

* Inability to assure public and patients that standards of care will be safe, monitored and enhanced.