Crisis on our wards

A HALLMARK of a decent society is that if someone needs hospital treatment, they are cared for until they are well.

So something has gone seriously wrong when, as the Mail reveals, soaring numbers of patients are rushed back on to wards within a day of being discharged.

How has this scandal happened? A health watchdog says under-pressure NHS trusts sign out frail patients far too hurriedly to free up urgently-needed beds.

But many patients become trapped in a miserable cycle: without adequate support at home, they rapidly fall ill again and need readmitting – costing millions. The problem is exacerbated by the NHS experiencing its worst ever year for A&E waiting times.

Now the Government must stop kicking challenging – but long-awaited – social care reforms into the long grass. It could be the difference between life and death.