AUSTRALIA: Hospitals Not Set Up For Elderly Patients: Nursing Home

HERVEY BAY, Queensland (ABC News), October 22, 2007: A nursing home in Hervey Bay, in Queensland's Wide Bay area, says hospitals are not set up to properly care for elderly patients. The chief executive officer of Torbay Retirement Community, Phillip Parry, says elderly patients often return from hospital with bad bed sores because they have not been turned enough and pressure mattresses are not always available. Mr Parry says it often takes a few weeks for elderly residents to recover from the confusion of being in hospital. "We often find our residents return to us in a confused state," he said. "The shock of moving to hospital and maybe having some type of operation if they've had anaesthetic, that also affects their ability and quite often we find they are confused when they do return to us." A survey of hundreds of aged care nurses found many in the sector are concerned about the treatment of elderly people in hospital, with some even resorting to photographing patients before they go to hospital. Copyright: ABC News