HSE proposal on hospital discharges 'would undermine older people's consent'

HSE CEO Bernard Gloster's memo was criticised by the Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine and Age Action but was welcomed by the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

A HSE plan for speeding up the discharge of elderly patients from hospitals is ageist and undermines their liberty, the Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine (ISPGM) has claimed.

A memo, issued to hospitals in recent days by HSE boss Bernard Gloster, proposes that older patients who are waiting for a nursing home will have to take the first option offered — at least temporarily.