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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1974.
CASES HAVING MEDICAL URGENCY AND GOOD PROSPECTS OF EARLY RECOVERY WILL BE GIVEN PRIORITY. THEY WILL COMPRISE CASES OF ACUTE INFECTIONS, STROKES, CARDIO-VASCULAR DISEASES, EXACERBATION OF ARTHRITIS, AND DEGENERATIVE DISEASES, AMONG OTHERS.
ONCE HOSPITALISED, PATIENTS WILL UNDERGO A SERIES OF MEDICAL INVESTIGATIONS FOR DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION.
+EVERY EFFORT WILL BE MADE TO HELP REINTEGRATE PATIENTS BACK INTO SOCIETY AS INDEPENDENT MEMBERS, THE SPOKESMAN SAYS.
IN CONTRAST TO PATIENTS IN THE CATEGORIES JUST LISTED, ELDERLY RESIDENTS SUFFERING FROM IRREMEDIABLE CONDITION SUCH AS TERMINAL CANCER, LONG-STANDING STROKES, MAJOR CONTRACTURE OF THE LIMBS AND SO ON, WILL NOT BE ADMITTED, THE REASON BEING THAT THEY ARE +UNLIKELY TO BENEFIT FROM ACTIVE TREATMENT AND THE FACILITIES OF THE UNIT.+
INSTEAD, THEY WILL CONTINUE TO BE LOOKED AFTER BY DOCTORS IN THE GENERAL WARDS, WITH SUBSEQUENT DISCHARGE TO NON-ACUTE HOSPITALS AS AT PRESENT.
+SHOULD HOPELESS CASES BE SELECTED, THE SPOKESMAN POINTS OUT, +BEDS COULD BECOME BLOCKED, AND THE TURNOVER SMALL. WITH LESS FREQUENT DISCHARGE AND A RELATIVELY GREATER LOAD OF PATIENTS HAVING A LESS FAVOURABLE PROGNOSIS, A VERY UNFORTUNATE THERAPEUTIC ENVIRONMENT CAN ARISE WHERE FAILURE EMERGES AS THE DOMINANT PHENOMENON.
+THIS COULD RESULT IN A LOWERING OF MORALE AMONG PATIENTS. RELATIVES AND HOSPITAL WARD STAFF, SO GREATLY HINDERING THE UNIT'S EFFICIENCY.
MENTALLY DISTURBED ELDERLY PATIENTS WILL BE REFERRED FOR CONSULTATION WITH THE PSYCHIATRIST FOR CARE IN PSYCHIATRIC CLINICS OR HOSPITALS WHERE THEY CAN RECEIVE TREATMENT, AND BENEFIT FROM THE SPECIAL SKILLS OF PSYCHIATRISTS AND TRAINED PSYCHIATRIC NURSES.
PATIENTS WILL NOT BE KEPT IN THE HOSPITAL LONGER THAN NECESSARY. THEY WILL BE DISCHARGED AS SOON AS CONSIDERED FIT AND READY BY THE GERIATRIC TEAM.
+ELDERLY PEOPLE ARE USUALLY HAPPIER IN THEIR OWN HOMES AMONG THEIR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS, THE SPOKESMAN EXPLAINS.
+PATIENTS TEND TO BECOME HOSPITAL DEPENDENT AFTER A SHORT TIME, AND IT WILL BE MUCH HARDER TO RETURN THEM TO SOCIETY.
+THE FUNCTION OF THE UNIT IS PRIMARILY TO GIVE ACUTE HOSPITAL TREATMENT, AND NOT RESIDENTIAL CARE. IF AN OLD PERSON HAS NO SUITABLE HOME TO RETURN TO ONCE HE HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TREATED IN THE GERIATRIC UNIT, ACCOMMODATION WILL BE PROVIDED FOR HIM IN AN OLD PEOPLE'S HOME.+
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