A MAJOR study has revealed that a growing number of elderly people are dying within days of being admitted to East Lancashire nursing homes.

The spiralling death rates are contained in a report which shows that 34 old folk died within a week of being placed in a home last year.

And private nursing home owners today admitted that elderly residents admitted into their care had been dying much sooner since the introduction of the Community Care Act in 1993.

Statistics compiled during a three-year study by East Lancashire Health Authority showed that 23 of the 34 patients who died within a week in 1996 had been transferred directly from a hospital.

Other figures showed that eight people died within 24 hours of being put into a home - four times as many as in 1994.

Health chiefs have focused on the nursing home death rate since matrons across East Lancashire began to express concern in 1995. The study by the health authority's registration and inspection unit examined the time between a person being admitted to a home and their death between 1994 and 1996.

Last year there were 676 deaths in nursing homes within a year with 37 per cent happening within six months of admission.

The health authority has stressed that the figures are no reflection on the quality of care provided by nursing homes. They also believe that most people admitted to homes are far more frail and dependent than they used to be.

Ken Nolan, executive officer of the Lancashire Care Association - the voice of private nursing homes - said concern had been growing since the Community Care Act was introduced. He said: "Members have been reporting that the length of stay has substantially reduced and that many people are dying within a short period.

"People are much more frail by the time they come into nursing or residential care and People are dying much sooner which means that bed spaces appear more frequently."

Nigel Robinson, chief officer of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Community Health Council, said: "The figures are a worry and there may be issues which need looking at.

"It is known that elderly people who move can die within a short space because it disrupts their routine. There maybe underlying factors such as community care or early hospital discharge."

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