Keeping people in hospital too long will over-burden health service this winter
Worryingly, the number of people being kept in hospital too long is steadily rising. These figures show that nearly 60,000 people experienced delayed discharge in the past year.
Responding to NHS England’s Operational Performance Statistics published today, which show a notable increase in delayed discharge from hospital settings over the past 12 months, our Chief Executive, Katherine Rake, said:
"Worryingly, the number of people being kept in hospital too long is steadily rising. These figures show that nearly 60,000 people experienced delayed discharge in the past year.
"This echoes the findings of our inquiry into unsafe discharge, 'Safely Home.’ Poor coordination of health and social care services is resulting in far too many people being kept in hospital longer than acceptable or necessary.
"Some services are managing these problems much better than others by investing more time in planning a patient’s discharge from the moment they are admitted. This good practice needs to be spread if we are going to ease pressure on the health service this winter and get people home from hospital in time for Christmas - and beyond the festive season."
