Hospital cuts costs by moving cancer patients to hotels
From The Sunday Times, Nov. 20, 2005

UP TO a third of cancer patients at a leading NHS trust will be moved out of wards and put up in nearby hotels under plans to save tens of millions of pounds on hospital beds.
Patients staying in privately run hotels benefit by spending more time with their families and they avoid the risk of picking up hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA.
More than 100 patients suffering from cancer or blood disorders at University College hospital (UCH) in London have already stayed at NHS expense at the Radisson Edwardian Grafton, a four-star hotel where rooms cost £168 a night.
Despite the high cost of the accommodation, it is cheaper for patients to stay in the hotel than in hospital. A bed on a cancer ward costs between £500 and £600 a night.


The English seem not to run out of ideas: last week they got rid of the pubs' closing time in the hope that people will drink less and now they want to treat cancer patients in hotels in the hope to save money.
It's a crazy world....I wonder when in some time to come teachers will be asked to do heart surgery in classrooms after school....