More elderly staying longer in hospital

More elderly people are having to stay in hospital for longer after more than 150 care home beds were closed in Cornwall in the first part of the year.

Cornwall Council missed its performance target for discharging people from hospital and into care homes and said the main reason was an unexpected rise in the number of care and residential homes which closed.

Figures released by the council show that so far this year 132 dementia care beds have been lost, along with 22 residential beds.

The council has a target set by NHS England for delayed transfers of care which is currently 7.3 per 100,000 population. However in the most recent quarter of 2018/19 the figure was 11.5, an increase from 7.7 in the first quarter.

A report which went to the council’s Cabinet last week stated that this deterioration had been due to the “prolonged period of extreme hot weather” and the bed closures.

The council said: “Cornwall Council has a good record of adult social care and commissions services from 325 CQC registered providers. The vast majority of these are of good quality – 76% of providers have a rating of good or outstanding. We have identified an unexpected number of residential and nursing homes closed in Cornwall in the first quarter of this year. In some cases the provider notified the Council they intended to de-register the beds. In a few cases, the closure followed an inadequate rating by the Care Quality Commission. Coupled with a higher than expected number of admissions due to the severe hot weather, this led to an increase in delayed discharges for older residents leaving hospital.”

The council said it had already taken action to prevent further delays in the winter.