Health officials have expressed dismay at the number of patients receiving final rites in emergency rooms as the NHS struggles to keep up with demand and delays.
An increase in winter sickness has taken a toll on the National Health Service, and hospitals have struggled to keep up with demand for treatment and beds.
While many hospitals are able to transfer dying patients to specialized wards before they die, some have seen an increase in the number of last rites – Christian prayers recited just before a person dies – in emergency departments.
This is what the Yorkshire hospital manager said I: “People die in the emergency room and have to go through their final rituals there. I have never seen anything like it. It is not right.”
Delays in transporting patients from ambulances to hospitals hit a new high last week, with one in four (26 percent) patients waiting more than an hour to be transferred to emergency response teams, and nearly half (44 percent) waiting at least 30 hours. Protocol.
According to earlier comments by Dr. Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Between 300 and 500 people die every week due to emergency room delays.
The doctors said they were angry because they had failed to restore dignity to dying patients in their last moments. This was announced by the registrar A & E, working in the county of Surrey. I that families said goodbye to their loved ones in wards separated by curtains, because there were not enough separate rooms.
“This has happened before – we don’t have many separate rooms in the emergency room. But we definitely see more of that just because we have so little space,” the doctor said.
“What’s difficult right now is making sure you give them the dignity they deserve.
“Everything that is happening now is terrible to watch. That’s not why you study medicine, you want to give people the best care… and we don’t provide good care right now. It’s not safe, it’s not worthy.
“First of all, of course, it’s terrible for the patients. But the implications for the workforce are enormous. Morale is so low because you just know he’s not good enough. It’s very demoralizing.”
Performing closing rituals or religious equivalents for ED is standard practice as patients near the end of life. However, spiritual and religious support chaplains admitted that the demand for their services was high at the time.
I also learned that field chaplains were increasingly providing overburdened personnel.
The Rev. Andy Dovey, head chaplain and chaplain at the hospital fund in the South East of England, said: “Our experience in our hospital is that we don’t. [delivering last rites] more than usually.
“All hospitals are absolutely overcrowded, but if one tries to portray that hospitals are full of dead patients in the emergency room or dying patients in the emergency room and all the priests are performing last rites, it’s not.”
However, Mr. Dovey said demand for chaplaincy has increased as hospitals have reached their maximum capacity.
“Now we are more active in offering pastoral and spiritual support to patients… So we are more in demand, I don’t think we can deny that.”
He said chaplains are increasingly supportive of staff who are “under enormous pressure at the moment.”
“After Covid, we realized that we needed [provide staff with support].
“Many hospitals now have social workers… and their focus is on the pastoral and spiritual support of the staff… This is very good, reliable staff support. We have found that employees are willing to come to the Minister of Social Affairs because it is confidential.”
He said, “It gives them the strength they need to continue.”
Some employees sought support from their families due to grief and illness, he said. Others need help when they are affected by a particular patient or when they are struggling to keep up with the demands of the job.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.