Patients treated as 'conditions'

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LONDON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Many British patients treated in hospitals through the National Health Service get poor care because doctors and nurses treat them as "conditions."

Officials of the Royal College of Physicians said doctors and nurses have little time to deal with patients, the patients' full medical and emotional needs were not met and this lack of attention resulted in serious medical errors, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The Royal College of Physicians joined the Royal College of Nursing to publish new guidance urging hospitals to give the morning ward round -- when doctors, nurses and students go patient-to-patient addressing acute issues, infection status and nursing problems -- the priority it deserves.

Suzie Hughes, chairman of the Royal College of Physicians' patient and carer network said, the back-to-basics approach follows increasing concern about the care patients receive -- particularly the elderly -- after findings about woefully substandard care at several British hospitals.

"We can't underestimate just how important the ward round is to patients, and it should be very important to staff as well," Hughes told The Telegraph.

There had been "a gradual erosion" of the ward round in recent years, leading to instances of poor patient care, Hughes said.