NHS England have today released the delayed discharge figures for April.
Vicky McDermott, Chair of the Care and Support Alliance, said:
“Today’s figures highlight the massive pressure our health and social care system is under.
“More people are going to A&E, and a third of delayed discharge is caused by social care not being in place. The funding crisis in social care is heaping needless pressure onto the NHS.
“To add to the desperate picture this week NHS chief Simon Stevens warned that delayed discharge could be a serious issue for the next five years ‘because there are real pressures building in social care’.
“We know that it is not just those that are kept in hospital unnecessarily who are being failed by our health and social care system, at least 1 million people (1) are not getting help with their basic needs.
“The Government needs to urgently address people’s care needs and fill the gap in social care funding. The sector has lost £4.6 billion over the last 5 years (2) and there will be an estimated shortfall of between £2.8 billion and £3.5 billion (3) by the end of the parliament.”
Note to Editors
1) Age UK, Health and Care of Older People in England 2015, October 2015
2) ADASS, Budget Survey 2015 Report, June 15
3) Even if every council utilised the social care precept, by the end of this parliament, the funding gap in social care is estimated to reach between £2.8 billion and £3.5 billion. (Nuffield Trust, The Health Foundation and the Kings Fund, The Spending Review: what does it mean for health and social care?, December 2015, http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/sites/files/nuffield/publication/spending-review-nuffield-health-kings-fund-december-2015.pdf )
- NHS England figures show that more than a million hospital days were lost due to delayed discharges in 2015. In 2012-13, more than a million people were readmitted to hospital as an emergency within 30 days of discharge. This costs the NHS £2.4 billion (https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/winter-daily-sitrep-2014-15-data/)
- National Audit Office report ‘Discharging Older Patients from Hospital’ in May 2016 highlighted: – The NHS is losing £820million a year on treating older patients who no longer need to be in hospital and 2.7 million days of acute hospital beds were occupied needlessly. It also highlights that delayed transfers of care have increased substantially over the past two years and a main driver for this delay is waiting for a package of home care and waiting for a nursing home placement.
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
