Forcing hospital patients into other wards because of overcrowding should be eliminated in the NHS to improve standards of care.
The recommendation to ban “boarding” in hospitals is among the findings of a meeting of more than 160 doctors, nurses and health staff from across the UK, convened by the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh (RCPE) and the Scottish Government.
They have also called for the extension of seven-day working by clinicians and support services, and the guarantee of a multi-disciplinary team to support patient care in every acute medical unit.
The RCPE report said: “As a consequence of both an ageing population and the development of more complex medical needs within this age grouping, frail elderly patients have been disproportionately affected by boarding.”
It said evidence suggested boarded patients have poorer outcomes, “including increased death rates, length of hospital stay and likelihood of re-admission”.
Health Secretary Alex Neil said: “Our hospitals are planned on a five-day working week basis.” He said this meant major increases in activity at the start and end of the week “instead of an even flow”.
He said the cost of change could be managed by allowing people home when they did not need to be in hospital.