'It's known as the granny drop': Paediatrician says care homes book patients into hospitals and 'refuse' to pick them up
20 December 2022, 18:28
Paediatrician sees care homes 'booking' patients into hospitals and 'refusing' to pick them up.
This paediatrician says there are care homes "booking" patients into hospitals and "refusing" to pick them up.
With patients facing record-breaking wait times and healthcare workers staging the biggest walkout in NHS history, this paediatrician tells Tom Swarbrick about the 'granny drop' phenomenon contributing to the hospital overcrowding crisis.
The healthcare worker told Tom: "Care homes will book patients in and say that they're unwell...they're seen and either treated or deemed medically fit.
Then they say 'we're not going to pick them up because they've been violent towards staff, we can't cope with this patient so we're not having them back'".
"The patient will stay in an A&E corridor or they'll eventually find an in-patient bed for them with the view that social care needs to find them an alternate place," the paediatrician explained.
She highlighted her shock: "It's known as the granny drop and I was agog...they just leave them there and refuse to pick them up."
