Care and Support Alliance’s response to NHS England Delayed Transfer of Care Data, February (Figures released 9.30am Thursday 14th April 2016)
Vicky McDermott, Chair of the Care and Support Alliance, said:
“The NHS is picking up the bill because the Government is ignoring the crisis in care – a third of all delays are now caused by a lack of social care.
“Delayed discharge alone costs the NHS £900 million a year (1) but inadequate social care isn’t just preventing people leaving hospital, it is also driving people to A&E. More than nine out of ten GPs (92 percent) do not believe a sufficient level of care is provided to prevent patients presenting at A&E or for them to avoid delayed discharge from hospital (2).
“We hear stories of disabled or older people being left for hours in soiled clothing or becoming malnourished because they aren’t getting care packages that allow carers to prepare nutritious food for them. Social care funding has fallen by £4.6 billion over the last 5 years (3).
“If the Government is serious about the NHS making £22 billion in savings over the next five years it needs to stop ignoring the crisis in social care.”
Note to Editors
1 Lord Carter of Coales Review, Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations, February 16
2 CSA GP polling. Medeconnect polling of 830 regionally representative GPs, January 2015.
3 ADASS, Budget Survey 2015 Report, June 15
– As people live longer with multiple long-term conditions and the population ages, increasing numbers need care and support. Despite this, fewer people are receiving state-funded support. The number of people accessing care services has fallen by half a million since 2008/9, a reduction of 30%.( Personal Social Services Research Unit, Changes in the patterns of social care provision in England: 2005/6 to 2012/13, December 2013, http://www.pssru.ac.uk/archive/pdf/dp2867.pdf)
– Age UK estimates that almost 3 million hospital bed days have been lost between June 2010 and January 2016 (Laing, W: Care of Older People, UK Market Report 2014/15, Laing Buisson (2015) and Mickelborough, P: Domiciliary Care, UK Market Report 2013, Laing and Buisson (2013)).
– The Care and Support Alliance represents more than 80 of Britain’s leading charities campaigning alongside the millions of older people, disabled people and their carers who deserve decent care
Media Contact:
Warren Kirwan, Senior Press Officer, Scope, T: 020 7619 7200
