PROPOSALS by Royal Bournemouth Hospital bosses to take legal action over ‘bed-blockers’ who monopolise spaces has been condemned as ‘harsh’ and ‘disrespectful’.

The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Trust plan to give a week’s notice to patients fit enough, who have a safe place to go, and could even evict them if they refuse or families refuse to take them.

If a case went to court, families and patients could be liable for legal costs of up to £50,000.

Katie Whiteside, of the Royal Bournemouth Hospital said too many families were refusing to take their relatives home which could lead to waiting in corridors and cancelled routine operations.

Holidays, dislike of care homes and their staff all contributed to the problem, she added.

But Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns described the proposed measures as “harsh”.

He said: “I am always hostile when the state starts talking about suing private citizens.

“I think it’s a bit like Big Brother.

“That said, I think families have a responsibility when a relative is medically fit to ensure that the relative comes back into the community as quickly as possible, particularly when there is a high demand for beds for people who are medically unwell.

“It is a very, very, harsh reaction though.

“The hospital is funded by the tax-payer and the people in hospital are tax-payers.

“The hospital has a duty to talk to them and about them with a little more respect.”

David Leighton, chief officer, Age UK Bournemouth said: “Whilst hospitals are under enormous and increasing pressure, threatening vulnerable people with eviction is not the way to tackle what is an underpinning problem with the way in which services are organised and funded.

“Health and social care agencies need to be working harder to provide effective services to help people return home from hospital.”

Mr Leighton said Royal Bournemouth and its main funder Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group should work more in partnership with other authorities for a long term solution “rather than victimising vulnerable older people for a problem that they did not cause themselves.”

BEST INTEREST

In response to media coverage surrounding the issue, the Trust said: “This policy is in the patient’s best interest, whether they are awaiting discharge from hospital or waiting for a bed from our admissions unit: we need to ensure the patients are in the right place at the right time.”