OVER A MILLION BED DAYS LOST TO BED BLOCKING IN THE NHS LAST YEAR - LAMB

2.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 4th Nov 2007

Over a million bed days were lost to 'bed blocking' in the NHS last year, according to new figures uncovered by Norman Lamb and the Liberal Democrats.

The number of days lost to delayed transfers from hospitals has risen by nearly a third from the previous year, with almost half of Trusts (46%) seeing an increase of patients having their departure from hospital delayed.

The figures revealed in parliamentary answers show that:

· 1,007,301 days were lost to bed blocking in the past year, the vast majority in acute hospitals - up from 776,101 in the previous year

· 2,500 patients have their discharge delayed on any one day (taken as an average over the last few years)

· In the past year a third of Trusts saw an increase in the number of delayed transfer bed days

The costs of 'bed blocking' are not only financial as it leads to higher occupancy rates which make it difficult to isolate infection outbreaks. It is accepted that most delayed transfers relate to older people because of their higher dependence on health and social care.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb MP said:

"Bed blocking is bad for the NHS and bad for patients.

"Huge amounts of money are being spent keeping people in hospitals which could be spent caring for them closer to home or even supporting them in their own house.

"It is in no-one's interests to leave patients languishing in hospital beds. It puts staff under undue pressure and risks corners being cut in order to get new arrivals admitted on time. Full wards mean that hospitals cannot isolate patients infected with superbugs.

"These delays are evidence of the big squeeze put on funding for care of older people by the Government. We urgently need the hospital and social care sector to work more closely together, so that money is spent on the best type of care for the patient precisely when they need it most."

NOTES

1.Definition of a 'delayed transfer':

"A delayed transfer occurs when a patient is ready for transfer from a general and acute hospital bed but is still occupying that bed. A patient is ready for transfer when: a clinical decision is made that the patient is ready for transfer; a multi-disciplinary team decision has been made that the patient is ready for transfer; and the patient is safe to discharge/transfer."

While delayed transfer does not necessarily have to involve older people, most instances (an estimated 90%) and most references in the literature concern this particular age group because of its higher dependence on health and social care support.

<http://www.library.nhs.uk/healthmanagement/ViewResource.aspx?resID=187241>;

2. The most common causes of delayed transfer are:

Awaiting nursing or residential placement 26%

Awaiting assessment of needs 17%

Awaiting further NHS care 14%

Awaiting placement of patient's choice 10%

Awaiting public funding 13%

Awaiting domiciliary care 9%

3. A recent Local Government Association report found that an extra £2,682m in the next three years will be needed to cope with the growing demands placed on social care services by the increasingly ageing population. Council leaders have said that if the additional funding is not forthcoming then other services, such as care for the elderly will have to be restricted.

<http://www.lga.gov.uk/PressRelease.asp?id=SXB787-A7848886>;

Support for services such as social care through the government grant has increased by just 14 per cent in real terms since 1997/98. This is in stark contrast to the NHS, which has seen a 90 per cent rise over the same period (LGA briefing on the recent Comprehensive Spending Review settlement).