Huge rise in bedblocking as social care crisis gets worse

THE number of older people left stuck in hospital beds is rising as a result of the social care crisis, figures reveal.

In July almost 130,000 days of care were lost in hospitals because staff were unable to move patients to another part of the NHS or to council care.

The figure – 4,000 higher than the previous month – follows a long period where so- called bedblocking was going down.

Labour said the increase was particularly worrying because it comes at the height of summer, when pressures on the NHS are traditionally much lower.

Much of the problem is because of the social care crisis, which is stopping local authorities from providing adequate support in the community.

It means older people are forced to stay in hospital beds despite not needing medical attention, delaying operations for other patients.

When a person has to stay a night in a hospital bed when they do not medically need one it is recorded as a ‘delayed transfer of care’. The figures differentiate between whether the delay was caused by another part of the NHS or by the social care system.

In July, there were 86,082 delayed transfers of care as a result of the NHS delays, and 42,684 as a result of social care – making a total of 128,766. The previous month, the respective figures were 84,124 and 40,209 – a total of 124,333.

That is a rise of 4,433 days of care lost – up 3.6 per cent.

The figures had in general been falling over the previous year and the increase starkly illustrates the pressures facing the social care system amid continued delays of concrete proposals for reform.

It emerged this week that ministers are considering asking work- ers to contribute from their salaries to pay for their future social care – in a similar way to how pensions are deducted.

Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, said: ‘ With people living longer, increases in costs and decreases in funding, adult social care is at breaking point.

‘Over recent years, councils have protected adult social care relative to other services. But the overall funding picture for local government means adult social care services still face a £3.5billion funding gap by 2025 just to maintain existing standards of care.

‘The likely consequences of this are more and more people being unable to get quality and reliable care and support.’

Barbara Keeley, Labour’s social care spokesman, said: ‘This rise in delayed transfers of care should come as a concern as winter approaches, when pressure on social care services will grow.

‘There are still parts of the country where a lack of social care is leading to people staying unnecessarily long in hospital when they should be able to return to their home and community.

‘The truth is that councils who deliver care are still struggling under the weight of 40 per cent cuts to their budgets by the Government, which has led to care homes and home care agencies withdrawing from contracts.’

‘System is at breaking point’