MOVES to reorganise hospitals so patients do not have to move beds or wards unless medically necessary have been welcomed in Scotland.

The suggestion emerging from a commission set up by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and focusing on the NHS south of the Border, also states that there should be full access to scans and lab testing seven days a week.

The RCP says a rise in admissions and more older patients with complex needs means "hospitals are struggling to cope", while units are not equipped to provide excellent care at weekends.

"All too often our most vulnerable patients - those who are old, who are frail or who have dementia - are failed by a system ill-equipped and seemingly unwilling to meet their needs," the report said.

It is not unusual for patients to move beds several times during a single hospital stay which "results in poor care, poor patient experience and increases length of stay".

Dr Neil Dewhurst, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE), which acts as government advisers on health, said that the report should resonate in Scotland.

He said it echoes RCPE's belief that there should be a major change in culture within the NHS which seeks to "place patients at the centre of care and to place greater value on compassion and patient experience". He added: "The report makes a number of substantive recommendations which have much relevance on a UK-wide basis.

"Central to this is the need to improve the level of care provided to patients in hospitals by improving the way in which medical services are co-ordinated and delivered across the hospital and, where feasible, extended into community settings.

"The report is to be welcomed, in particular, for its aim to reduce unnecessary ward moves for patients and complements on-going work between the RCPE and the Scottish Government to address this problem in Scotland."

In recent months The Herald has been highlighting the pressures facing hospitals from an ageing population and finite resources.

The report emphasised the "hidden" high level of urgent and unscheduled care which is provided in Acute Medical Admission Units and in Intensive Care.

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) says there should be a single team co- ordinating all such care alongside Accident and Emergency through a single Division of Medicine.

RCPE said it strongly supported recommendations in the report calling for named consultants to be responsible for every patient.

It also backed suggestions that services should be re-designed to ensure a consultant presence, and diagnostic and support services, seven days a week, and agreed all medical specialists should be trained in the provision of general internal medical care.

Dr Dewhurst added: "With more patient and professional organisations adding their voice, the case for cultural change within the NHS has never been greater, but will require political commitment, throughout the UK, to resource the service that patients need and doctors wish to deliver."

Several studies have shown that patients admitted to NHS hospitals at weekends and on bank holidays have higher death rates and poorer outcomes.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "NHS Scotland is already a 24/7 service and many services already operate on this basis to ensure appropriate care.

"Although this report relates primarily to the NHS in England, we are already working with groups, such as the RCPE, to give serious consideration to what scope there is to extend the coverage of our services to provide patients with seamless seven-day care. This must be conducted in partnership with professional and staff interests."