Bed blocking crisis means medically fit NHS patients have to wait up to 9 MONTHS to be discharged
Today’s NHS bed-blocking crisis is fueled by shocking data that shows some patients are waiting nine months to be discharged – despite having been declared medically fit to leave.
Nearly 13,000 hospital beds, one in seven people is healthy enough to be discharged.
They should be moved to a care home or provided with in-home support, but staff shortages in the social care sector keep many people waiting in wards for weeks.
The problem, which contributes to fatal ambulance delays, has only worsened since the start of the year.
A HSJ Freedom of Information investigation into some of the worst performing NHS trusts in the UK has uncovered some of the most horrifying waits.
One patient deemed medically fit at the North Bristol Trust waited more than nine months to be discharged, with another being forced to wait eight months.
The publication also shows a wait time of 6 months at North Cumbria Integrated Care Foundation Trust and Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust.
This chart shows the average daily number of patients who are well enough to leave but cannot be discharged at NHS hospitals in the UK. It shows how the crisis has worsened since December, with more people blocking beds in the health service now than in the traditionally busy winter.
The Royal United Bath Foundation Trust reported a case where a patient had to wait 5 months to be discharged.
Waits of more than three months have been documented by the Dorset County Hospital Trust, the Mid Cheshire Hospital Trust, and the Stockport Trust.
The trustees said much of the delay was due to a lack of staff capable of providing care at a patient’s home.
Another factor cited was the need to wait for specialist equipment, such as machines to help people breathe, to be installed in patients’ private homes.
Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said it was unacceptable to leave patients with no choice but to stay in hospital for an extra nine months.
He said: “It is horrifying that healthy patients discharged from the hospital are then stuck in hospital beds for up to nine months.
‘It’s an incredible waste of one of the best years of someone’s life.
‘This is the price to pay for the failure of the Conservatives in social care over the past 12 years.’
The number of healthy patients discharged from hospitals but stuck in hospitals has increased sharply since the beginning of the year.
MailOnline’s analysis of NHS England statistics shows there are an average of 12,900 people ‘blocking the bed’ on any given day in July.
This is about 2,500 more than in December last year, seen as part of a traditionally busier winter period in the NHS.
Patients who are unable to live independently have to wait a long time for a care assessment, in-home support, or home care, during their hospital stay.
They often ask for help with basic daily tasks such as washing, cooking, and dressing.
The lack of capacity in the social care sector is causing the problem.
Charities have repeatedly warned of a growing staffing crisis in the social care sector with many supermarkets now offering higher hourly wages.
There are currently 165,000 vacancies in the adult social care sector in the UK, meaning around one in ten positions are unfilled, according to the charity Skills for Care.
With the cost of living crisis looming for many Britons for social care workers, the temptation to seek a higher salary could prove to be overwhelming.
Bed blocking also contributes to the nation’s A&E crisis, with ambulances in some cases unable to carry patients and forced to wait in hospital parking lots due to lack of beds.
Class two calls, which include emergencies like heart attacks and strokes, currently have an average response time of 59 minutes against the 18-minute target.
The latest NHS England data for July shows more than 29,000 sick people waited 12 hours at A&E units in the last month (yellow line) – four times the NHS target and up a third in June, this was the previous record. Meanwhile, the proportion of patients seen within four hours – a time frame 95% of people are said to be seen within – fell to 71% last month (red line), the lowest rate recorded received since application began in 2010
Up to 500 people die each week in the UK from the crisis in NHS emergency departments, according to an analysis that has taken the toll of the summer crisis. Graph showing excess deaths associated with prolonged A&E wait times
Latest data shows a record 29,000 sick people waited 12 hours at A&E units in July, four times the NHS target. This is up a third from the June data, holding the previous record.
With an overnight stay in an NHS bed costing taxpayers around £400, the 13,000 bed-stop problem could cost the country around £5 million a day.
The crisis is unfolding despite numerous promises from the Government about fixing social care.
An extra £36bn in cash has been allocated to the NHS and social care over the next three years through the controversial No10 levy, with just £6bn going to the latter.
The head of Tory leadership Liz Truss last week pledged to eliminate taxes and increase social care funding through joint taxation.
Her comments have caused alarm in the health industry, with leaders urging her not to ‘robber Peter to pay Paul’ and strip NHS funding.
North Bristol’s responsible care unit says £17m is being invested to speed up discharge.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said £5.4 billion has been invested in adult social care over the next three years.
They added the Government has continued to support a £500m workforce development fund to improve training and maintain social care.
Source: | This article originally belonged to Dailymail.co.uk