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Meeting of the Parliament 09 November 2011

09 Nov 2011 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Rehabilitation and Enablement

Milne, Nanette Con North East Scotland Watch on SPTV

The health budget has nevertheless continued to increase, although there are issues around the allocation of the budget to different sectors. That is perhaps more of a health board issue that must be sorted out.

The nursing profession has a major role in rehabilitation and enablement, from the acute phase in hospital through to resuming life at home, where the nursing team can work with patients’ families and carers to ensure that the necessary support networks are in place for the most successful rehabilitation possible.

Figures show that the number of nurses currently in post in Scotland is at its lowest point since 2006, and this year there has been an accelerated loss of nursing posts. The Royal College of Nursing is naturally concerned that that may indicate the financial pressures—at which Jackie Baillie hinted—that health boards have been facing on the ground, despite the comparatively positive position of the NHS in the Scottish budget.

The ready availability of properly trained health personnel working together as teams—which is in itself important—is clearly essential if the Government is to realise its ambition to move away from reactive, unplanned and episodic care to a service that gives on-going co-ordinated and personalised support.

With an increasingly ageing population requiring support, particularly when the patient is moving from acute care into the community, staff availability is crucial. There must be proper co-ordination between health and social care, which is why all parties have come to realise that those services need to be integrated, however that may be done. As members will know, my party has suggested doing that by merging social care into the health service.

I have had recent personal experience of rehabilitation after hip replacement. I must say that I was extremely pleased with my treatment in the NHS and the teamwork of the various professionals who were involved in my care. Pre-operatively, the occupational therapist investigated my home circumstances and ensured that the necessary aids, such as raised toilets and a perch stool for the shower, were in place before I was discharged from hospital. Post-operatively, I was shown how to get in and out of bed without stressing the new hip joint, and the physiotherapists supervised the necessary exercises and provided the walking aids that I required for the first six weeks of recovery. I have to say that, even though I am a medic, I was a good patient and did all my exercises religiously every day.

Once the staff were satisfied that I could cope unaided, I was discharged without further support, which raised a few eyebrows. However, if necessary I would have had physiotherapy after discharge, and therefore I was not at all concerned that I was not immediately referred for physiotherapy.

My only concern was about the lack of nursing staff on the ward at night. Day staff were pleasant, efficient and plentiful, and those on night duty did a terrific job, but it was hard for one charge nurse and one auxiliary to cope with a whole ward of post-operative patients, six of whom were on intravenous antibiotics and a few of whom needed significant help to get in and out of bed. They were wonderful staff, but they were a bit demoralised by the lack of numbers.

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Meeting of the Parliament 09 November 2011

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