QA Hospital in Portsmouth goes back on 'competition' for quick patient discharges

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) sent out an internal newsletter to staff earlier this week, announcing a daily competition over the coming week where prizes would be given out for the clinical teams that discharged patients the quickest.

Following backlash from staff and medical experts alike, the trust has since gone back on these proposals. PHU is the hospital trust that runs Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

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The newsletter, which has been seen by The News, said: ‘The trust has launched a Home for Easter campaign asking colleagues to ensure patients are discharged in a timely way to free up bed space during the Easter period and in preparation for the second junior doctor’s strikes later in the month.

‘From Monday, April 3 to Thursday, April 6, a daily competition will run for wards with the best teams for discharges receiving some Easter chocolates each day.’

The Easter period is notorious among hospitals for being one of the busiest times of the calendar year.

Now, the hospital trust has taken to social media to publicly apologise, and to confirm that this ‘competition’ will not be taking place.

The statement said: ‘We’ve read your comments and understand how this has made you feel, and hold our hands up to say this is our mistake. We are preparing for the forthcoming bank holiday to make sure we continue to respond to the needs of our patients and keep our patients and staff safe.

‘Discharge decisions are an important part of preparation for a bank holiday period and whilst we had good intentions to get staff talking about the challenges we face, we can absolutely see why this has landed badly.

‘We know that incentives have no place in influencing clinical decisions.

‘We understand the concern this has caused and are sorry to our staff and patients who are the heart of PHU.’

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