Paper Before Patients.

For years now there has been a general awareness that bureaucratic insistence on excessive paperwork, has resulted in reduced standards of care within the NHS.
 

We have been repeatedly told that this is being addressed and things are going to improve. Unfortunately, people in the pen-pusher positions never write themselves out of a job. As they have to look as though they are doing something to earn their keep, they write new instructions and design more forms to be filled up at the coal face.

 

My wife has been working on the hospital wards for over seven years and she reports that there is now a greater preponderance of required paperwork than ever.

 

Last month a new form covering patient wellness came into force. This is supposed to be filled in every hour for each patient. If implemented as written, the sleeping sick would need to be awakened in pursuit of their wellness. Most of them have said emphatically that they will call if they are feeling unwell.

 

The idea is meant to be helpful, but the result is just another time wasting exercise, which results in nurses having even less time to spend with their charges.