Fed-up Health Practitioners Approach UUP for help - Armstrong
Ulster Unionist Mid-Ulster MLA Billy Armstrong has said recent NHS changes in District Nursing Care are having a negative effect on patient care.
Mr Armstrong commented after inviting Dr Smith and Mrs Moira Doyle (Nurse) from Cookstown Heath Centre to Parliament Buildings yesterday for a meeting with Health Minister Michael McGimpsey.
In a statement Mr Armstrong said,
“I was approached by senior representatives at the Health Centre in Cookstown who are concerned at the effect that recent changes by the NHS on District Nursing Care are having on patient care.
Increased demands on administration and bureaucratic procedures are making it harder for patients to receive care because so much time is spent form filling. As a result the quality of service has reduced.
In palliative and terminal care the changes have led to a lack of continuity of care and a confusion of responsibilities. For terminal care in particular this is completely unacceptable when those dying need a sensitive and caring approach, not one driven by NHS Diktat.
In Cookstown other problems include a reduction in Treatment Room Care and out of hours services. It is alarming when health care professionals are so incensed and fed up with the changes foisted upon them that they feel they need political support. I am only too pleased to offer this support and I know from meeting with the Minister that he too is eager to listen to their concerns and act upon them.”