'Bed Blocking' Delays Reach Three-Year High

By Siobhan Robbins, Sky News Reporter

The number of days being lost while patients wait to be discharged from hospital is at the highest level in three years, according to latest figures.

Statistics published by NHS England show that in October some 78,424 hospital bed days were lost because of a delay in discharging patients - a rise of nearly 8,000 compared to last year.

'Bed blocking' happens when people are delayed from leaving hospital because the follow-up care they need is not available.

Government cuts were blamed as one reason for the delays

NHS England has acknowledged the problem in a statement which said: "We are very aware of the pressures on hospitals when patients cannot be discharged when appropriate.

"Across the country we have urgent care working groups set up so the whole health and social care system is pulling together to tackle these important issues.

"The extra £150m that we have just released will help. We need to get every penny we can working hard for patients."

In October, 690 NHS patients had to stay longer in hospital while they waited for the next stage of non-emergency care. Government cuts to councils which provide community and elderly care are highlighted as one of the reasons for the delays.

A spokesperson for the Local Government Association told Sky News: "Unless local government finance is put on a sustainable footing, social care will remain substantially underfunded and services will suffer as a result.

"Helping the old and vulnerable to maintain their independence and dignity is a vitally important job and councils have worked very hard to protect social-care services from the full impact of cuts.

"However, the shortage of funding is being exacerbated by increasing demand and councils need an extra £400m each year just to maintain services at current levels.

"It is not possible to substantially raise the standard of care and access to services on a nationwide basis until more money is put into the system."

In response to the new figures a spokesperson from the Department of Health said: "In an average week NHS hospitals admit a quarter of a million patients. In that context the number of delays is very low.

"But no patients should experience unnecessary delays. We know hospitals need to join up better with social care and community services and are investing £3.8 billion in making this happen."

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